Kenneth (Rock) Merritt, a Corporal machinegun squad leader summarized life in the marshaling area. “From May 29 to June 5 we were busy getting briefings and studying sand tables, and maps.
We inspected our equipment and ammunition and rolled it into parachute deliverable containers. Most of our equipment bundles were loaded into pararacks fixed to the bottom of each plane, six bundles per plane. Some bundles were loaded into the plane – we would push these bundles out the door as we left the plane.
On June 5, 1944, we had a steak dinner and were watching a movie in the hangar. The movie was stopped and we were told to blacken our faces with soot from the cook's stoves. After one final briefing, we said farewell to buddies and started putting on our equipment.
We wore impregnated jump suits with an American flag on one shoulder and an 82nd Airborne Division patch on the other. We coated our boots with a waterproofing compound and wore a wool cap under our helmets.
We carried a rifle, cartridge belt and a musette bag. Everyone carried four hand grenades, an antitank mine, a canteen of water, a firstaid kit, an entrenching tool, gas mask, compass, knife, dog tags, 200 rounds of ammunition, three K-rations, three chocolate bars, socks, underwear and a life preserver for the flight over the English Channel.
My plane had six bundles in pararacks, and we had two door bundles, that held 30 Cal. light machineguns and ammunition. We also for some unknown reason had the regimental executive officer’s folding bicycle as a door bundle - it mysteriously fell out of the plane somewhere over the English Channel. All the noncoms were issued an escape kit and everyone received five to ten dollars in Francs.”
David Jones of the Battalion S-2 (Intelligence) Section says, “We prepared sand tables of the drop zone using aerial photos taken by high flying aircraft. We knew exactly the kind of terrain and the general area where we would land, and the objectives we were expected to secure. However, we did not know where we were to land in France.
At the last minute, after we boarded the C-47s we were told we would drop five to ten miles behind the beaches in Normandy.” | 
