Church of Sainte-Mère-Église — Attraction in Cherbourg

A famous incident involved paratrooper John Steele of the 505th PIR, whose parachute caught on the spire of the town church, and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven. The incident was portrayed in the movie The Longest Day by actor Red Buttons.

A second parachute also got stuck, Kenneth Russell (17years old), whose parachute got stuck at the church - about 6m above ground and John Steele hanging over him. A third, John Ray, had landed so far safely on the ground, but was shot in the stomach by a German soldier. As the German then directly took aim on Russell and Steele, Ray could shoot the german with his Cal. 45 Colt in a last attempt where after he died. Russell managed to free himself from the wires of the parachute and set off to hide as Steele, still hanging at the church, showed no...

When in Normandy be sure to spend some time in the small villages, especially Ste. Mere Eglise. Several cafes and shops in addition to the church and museum. If you don't know by now, let me fill you in, this is the church in the movie Longest Day. I believe there were several paratroopers that landed on this church, one died, one escaped out of his chute and the third one remained and played dead until they made him a prisoner of war. Another unlucky paratrooper landed inside a burning building, poor guy, so go the stories. To this day there is still a parachute w/a dummy hanging on the steeple, but he's facing the plaza so everyone can see him but he actually was hanging on the opposite side away from the plaza. We were here with a tour group and this is definitely...

A well-known incident involved paratrooper John Steele of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, whose parachute caught on the spire of the town church and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven. The incident was portrayed in the movie The Longest Day by actor...