via First Coast News / YouTube
Remembering a Historic Day
On June 5, 2019, in northern France, a 97-year-old American veteran once again jumped from the side of an aircraft, nearly 75 years after he first did so during the large airborne assault that helped open the campaign in northwest Europe in June 1944. The veteran, a former paratrooper, leapt over fields near the same stretch of coastline where many airborne troops descended into danger on the eve of the massive coastal invasion. He was part of a larger commemorative event, in which several hundred parachutists took part to honor those who served in that operation decades earlier.
The event took place as crowds gathered in the region to mark the three-quarter-century anniversary of the landings on France’s northern shore. Thousands of people, including military personnel, civilians and veterans, came to watch reenactments of the historic flights and landings that helped shift the course of the wider conflict. These commemorations included groups of jumpers descending from vintage transport planes, echoing the flights of the original airborne forces that dropped behind enemy lines before the seaborne attack began.
via First Coast News / YouTube
A Leap Across Decades
The veteran, identified by multiple news reports as Tom Rice of San Diego, first jumped into the area as a much younger man during the major allied assault in June 1944. At that time, he and other paratroopers left transport aircraft in the darkness and landed among scattered troops far behind enemy positions, facing heavy fire and the threat of capture. He survived the fighting that followed, as did many of his comrades who pushed inland after landing.
In 2019, Rice rode in a historic C-47 aircraft, similar to those used in the original airborne operation. Thousands who watched on the ground saw him, along with other jumpers, fall through a clear sky and touch down on soil that had changed greatly since the war. While the original jump came under fire and great risk, this one was part of a peaceful tribute to those who served, and the veteran spoke afterward of his positive feelings about the experience.
Honoring Those Who Served
The 75th anniversary brought together many elements of remembrance. Historic aircraft flew over the region, and groups of paratroopers from different nations reenacted the drops made so long before. These displays drew spectators from around the world, some tracing their own family histories to the events of 1944.
For those who survived the early morning operations more than seven decades earlier, returning to this place of conflict as celebrated guests offered a powerful moment of reflection. At the heart of these commemorations was the shared memory of the many young men who left aircraft high above and descended into a fierce battle that helped shape the closing years of the war in Europe.
a fierce battle that helped shape the closing years of the war in Europe.
