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allowed passes to NYC during their nine days in camp and Uncle
Joe was able to visit NYC for 6-hours on Christmas Eve. On
December 29, 1943, the regiment embarked on the troop ship James
Parker (AP46) for a ten-day convoy trip across the North
Atlantic. They were escorted by a screen of destroyers, escort
carriers and Navy antisubmarine blimps. The German U-boats had
been neutralized by then so the submarine threat was minimal but
the stormy North Atlantic in winter made for a miserable voyage
– Uncle Joe said he spent 10 days throwing up in the crowded
hold of that ship. They arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland on
January 8, 1944. Two months later, the regiment was transported
across the Irish Sea by ferry to Glasgow, Scotland and then by
train to Wollaton Park on the outskirts of Nottingham, England
where they set up camp. This is where the 508th was attached to
the 82nd Airborne Division and they began intensive training for
the upcoming invasion which included three night practice jumps
over the English countryside.
Operation OVERLORD, D-Day, June 6, 1944; the invasion of
Normandy was and remains the largest amphibious operation in the
history of warfare. Operation NEPTUNE, the airborne portion
consisting of the 82nd, 101st (“Screaming Eagles”) and 6th
British ABN Divisions, was the largest airborne operation to
date. The mission of the U.S. airborne divisions was to land on
the Cotentin Peninsula and secure the ground behind Utah Beach.
In the predawn hours of June 6th, the U.S. airborne armada was
to fly over the English Channel, approach the peninsula from the
west and drop the 18 battalions from the six regiments of the
82nd and 101st to the south and west of Utah Beach.
For brevity’s sake, I’ll drill drill down through the wealth of
information regarding the D-day invasion and focus on where
Uncle Joe ended up in this historic operation. Those of you who
watched HBO’s Band of Brothers series, particularly the second
episode, saw a fairly accurate rendition of what happened that
fateful night.
Around 0100 hours on June 6, 1944, Uncle Joe departed from RAF
Folkingham, an airfield located 110 miles N of London, crammed
into a metal bucket seat in the back of a C-47 assigned to the
313th Troop Carrier Group. He was #17 in a
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