D-DAY 65th
Pvt. William P. “Bill” GALBRAITH
“I” Company, 506th PIR,
101st Airborne Division
Machine gunner Bill Galbraith landed on the southwestern edge of drop zone D and begrudgingly joined with the 501 for the attack on the La Barquette locks. He returned to 3/506 on the evening of 8th June only to find that they had been totally decimated. He also fought at ‘bloody gully’ on June 13th and recalls, “I don’t think there were more than 28 of us left in I Co after the battle”. While on leave after Normandy Bill met and fell in love with Anna. After being promoted and transferred to S3 (Bn Planning & Operations) Bill’s war ended in Holland when on September 18th he was seriously wounded while entering the outskirts of Eindhoven by German artillery. After spending three years in hospital Bill finally married Anna in 1948 - just after Christmas. Bill now lives in Murrieta, California with Anna and their nine children.
BROTHERS IN ARMS MARCH V
Road to Carentan
In the footsteps of the 101st Airborne Division
The Carentan Historical Foundation in association with the D-Day Paratrooper Historical Center and the Municipalities of Carentan and Saint-Côme-du-Mont in Normandy is organizing its 5th annual march on Sunday 7th June 2009. The 18km trek follows the historic trail carved out by the 101st Airborne Division as its soldiers fought bravely to liberate the region in 1944.
This being the 65th anniversary of D-Day we are expecting more than five hundred participants to take part. The marchers who include people from the USA and Japan will be dressed in US Airborne clothing (authentic to the period) to commemorate the sacrifice of the young American paratroopers who went on to capture Carentan.
HIGHLIGHTS
Joe Beyrle is thought to be the one of only a handful of American soldiers to have served in both the United States Army and the Soviet Army in World War II...
Flying into Normandy on D-Day, twenty-two year old Manny was on Joe Beyrle’s plane and landed in a garden on the eastern edge of Saint-Côme-du-Mont...
As a 60mm mortar sergeant, Ralph Bennett’s job in Normandy was to provide direct fire support to 3rd platoon H Company
D-Day, the 3rd battalion of the 506th PIR jumped over Saint-Côme-du-Mont...
Organic airborne medical units supported the 101st Airborne Divisions during World War II...
In June 1944, The Special Motion Picture Unit operated from its base camp in Carentan - conveniently situated between Utah and Omaha beaches..
