An 82nd Airborne Division soldier chats with French children in the small town of Sainte-Mère-Église days after D-Day. In the wee hours of 6 June 1944 the 82nd, led personally by Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgeway, descended by parachute and glider on this part of France in advance of the beach landings. The 82nd's mission was to capture the town of Sainte-Mère-Église and secure the bridges over the rivers behind Utah Beach on the eastern shore of the Cherbourg Peninsula.
Sainte-Mère-Église in fact became the first town liberated after the invasion, and strong ties were formed with the 82nd that continue to this day.
Completed 2023
Collection of Shaun Gooch
An 82nd Airborne Division soldier chats with French children in the small town of Sainte-Mère-Église days after D-Day. In the wee hours of 6 June 1944 the 82nd, led personally by Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgeway, descended by parachute and glider on this part of France in advance of the beach landings. The 82nd's mission was to capture the town of Sainte-Mère-Église and secure the bridges over the rivers behind Utah Beach on the eastern shore of the Cherbourg Peninsula.
Sainte-Mère-Église in fact became the first town liberated after the invasion, and strong ties were formed with the 82nd that continue to this day.