RHH's photos with the keyword: parachutist

This is the church in the Normandy town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, near the Utah and Omaha beaches, landing sites for the Americans on June 6, 1944, D-Day. The church is famous for the story of the parachutist, John Steele, a member of the American airborne troops whose parachute snagged on the church steeple in the early hours of the morning and who hung there for several hours pretending to be dead until rescued by the Germans and made a prisoner. Many of the other paratroopers were shot and killed as they came down on the town, but according to John Steele's account the German troops did not shoot at him because of the church.

This is the steeple of the church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, a town near the Utah and Omaha beaches used by the Americans on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The effigy is of a man named John Steele of the 505th Parachute Regiment whose parachute snagged on the steeple. He hung there for several hours pretending to be dead until rescued and made a prisoner by the German soldiers in the town. According to his own account they did not shoot him, as they did many other paratroopers who were descending on the town, because they thought he was protected by the Mary to whom the church is dedicated.