 DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- "Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."
These remarks made by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, prior to the launch of the Allied invasion of Normandy, still carry weight to this day for one of the soldiers he was addressing, the now 93-year-old George Shenkle.
Seventy-one years after jumping into Nazi-occupied France and history, with eyes of the world set upon him and his comrades-in-arms, Shenkle, formerly of Easy Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, reunited with the very C-47A Skytrain that he jumped out of April 18, 2015, at the Air Mobility Command Museum near Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.
"This is the culmination of the long process to bring this airplane back into the condition like it was on D-Day," said Mike Leister, AMC Museum director. "To have George come back one more time is a tribute."
Shenkle travelled from his home in Pennsylvania to visit the Douglas C-47A Skytrain, #42-92841, known as the "Turf & Sport Special," cargo plane that is permanently on display inside the AMC Museum. During his visit, Shenkle took time to talk with and pose for photos with countless museum visitors and volunteers.
One of the museum volunteers who spoke with Shenkle, retired U.S. Army Col. Bob Leicht, is part of an all-volunteer team of aircraft restorationist. They have spent the past several months to bring the C-47 to the configuration it was in on D-Day.
"Last month we repainted the interior of the airplane back to an original color," said Leicht. "We found the paratrooper seats; we restored those and just put them in."
But for Leicht and many of the other volunteers, having Shenkle visit the aircraft was the final piece to a larger puzzle.
"Now the aircraft, as best we know is restored to the condition it was on D-Day," Leicht said. "The cherry on the cake, if you will, is having the D-Day veteran coming back and re-entering his airplane; it ties it all together."
Shenkle himself, was impressed with the condition of the aircraft.
"I think they've done a wonderful job," Shenkle said. "I'm glad to see they've put the effort into this thing."
A highlight for all those who attended the event was the involvement of a group of World War II-era 82nd Airborne Division re-enactors. The nine re-enactors came dressed in the same uniforms and were equipped with same weapons and materials, as were the paratroopers who jumped on June 6, 1944, over Normandy.
"Today, we are representing the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment," said Tech. Sgt. Neil Baughman, 193rd Special Operations Wing knowledge operations. "We are here for George Shenkle, the veteran who jumped out of this C-47 on D-Day."
The re-enactors boarded the C-47 with Shenkle to pose for photos, allowing the veteran to sit in the same seat position that he did on D-Day, position number three.
Shenkle maintains an active lifestyle, participating in various World War II ceremonies and reunions throughout the U.S. and Europe, including visiting Normandy every June 6th, for the anniversary of his jump.
"I will spend this May and June in France," Shenkle said. "We will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day and the 71st anniversary of D-Day."
Events like this, Shenkle's visit, are becoming fewer and farther between as America's World War II generation of veterans is decreasing each and every day.
"It puts a face on a piece of history," Leicht said. "It's a personal connection to history, because when you think about it, the man jumped into history."
by Airman 1st Class Zachary Cacicia
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
4/21/2015 |
DOVER — Dover’s Air Mobility Command Museum welcomed a special
visitor Thursday: Joe Morettini, a paratrooper who flew in a C-47 transport and
jumped into Normandy, France, on D-Day.
That plane now is on display in the museum.
Mr. Morettini, an Erie, Pa., native, and 18 fellow paratroopers in the Army’s
82nd Airborne Division, jumped from this plane into France on June 6, 1944.
Now, at 90 years old, he is one of only two remaining survivors from that
flight.
“When I went in the Army, the first thing I did was ask my commander to go into
the Airborne division,” Mr. Morettini said during his visit. “So after basic
training, I headed to a few months of further training to become a paratrooper.”
There were perks to being a paratrooper — aside from the thrill of jumping from
airplanes. Regular Army pay was $30 per month, but for paratroopers the pay was
$50 per month.
“The Airborne division was voluntary, but very competitive,” said museum
volunteer Mark Mougel. “They definitely sent out a lot more rejection letters
than acceptance ones.”
Before basic and paratrooper training, Mr. Morettini asked his father if he
could join the military when he was 17, but his father refused to sign the
paperwork.
Three months later, however, Mr. Morettini was drafted.
The AMC Museum even has the jump manifest to prove Mr. Morettini was on the
C-47. He was the 14th of 19 jumpers.
The jump manifest is one of less than a dozen remaining from World War II
because all flight crews were instructed to destroy them after each flight.
But, for reasons unknown, the crew chief of this particular flight held onto the
paperwork.
Mr. Morettini’s C-47 was one of 820 that took off from England. He was one of
more than 6,000 paratroopers who jumped from around 700 feet in the air.
“Jumping is the easy part — it’s the landing that’s difficult,” Mr. Morettini
said. “But coming down, I had never seen so many paratroopers at once. There
were people everywhere and when I saw what was going on, I thought my life would
be over.”
D-Day was the first of four jumps he made over his two-year deployment in the
European Theater of Operations.
On each jump, Mr. Morettini and his comrades carried about 50 pounds of
supplies, including rifles, food and basic medical supplies.
On his first jump, he landed just west of the town of St. Mère Église between
two trees, his feet dangling a few feet off the ground before he managed to get
out of his harness and drop down.
His first mission was to cross a field near woods to meet up with American
troops on Hill 93. However, while crossing the field, the soldier in front was
shot and killed while Mr. Morettini was hit in the arm.
He sought cover in a ditch where six dead Americans lay in addition to several
wounded ones.
When the coast was clear, Mr. Morettini crossed the field and walked down the
road to the nearest first aid station where he directed the doctors to the
injured soldiers.
“I helped bandage the one soldier’s leg and wanted to go back to help the other
guys, but the doctors forced me to go to the hospital because of my injury,” he
said while holding back tears.
“I really didn’t do anything more or less than my other military buddies would
have done.”
After recovering from his injured arm, Mr. Morettini went on three more
missions.
He was wounded again, this time in the back. He made a speedy recovery, and was
ready for a fifth drop when the war ended.
Even after both injuries, Mr. Morettini remains in good shape, he said,
exercising three days a week at his local YMCA.
He also shares his stories with the public. About 50 civilians came out to the
museum to meet him Thursday.
“I’m really surprised that so many people showed up,” he said. “It’s just
something I wasn’t expecting.”
But many of those attending posed for photos with him and asked him to sign
photos of the C-47 he flew on.
“There was a long time when I didn’t talk about the war at all, and then there
was a time I couldn’t talk about it without crying,” Mr. Morettini said. “But
recently, it’s gotten a little easier to talk about.”
He remains involved in World War II history, having traveled to Normandy last
summer for the 70th anniversary of D-Day where he met President Obama and one of
President Ronald Reagan’s sons. |
 July
9, 2015, Dover AFB, Delaware.
Accompanied by family members, Joe Morettini of Erie, Pennsylvania - late of
E/508 PIR/82 Abn Div, addresses a crowd in front of the C-47 from which he
jumped into France at 0206 hrs, 6 Jun 44.
The aircraft is the 'Turf and Sport Special' (42-92841), which also dropped Brit
Paras west of Arnhem on 17 Sep 44, and pulled a glider across the Rhine on 24
Mar 45. Post-war, it participated in the Berlin Airlift.
A rifleman, Joe went on to jump into Holland during MARKET GARDEN.
Joe Morettini, who
jumped in position 14 from this aircraft on D-Day stands in the door on 11 July
2015 as he had in 1944. His visit came three months after George Shenkle's
appearance. |
