USA Airborne Division - D-Day with the Screaming Eagles

George Koskimaki has compiled a truly amazing compendium of the activities and experiences of hundreds of individual members of the 101st Airborne Division on the occasion of their D-Day invasion. The series of events leading up to the loading of the planes, the emotions of the paratroopers en route and the reactions of the individuals during the period shortly after landing are vividly recorded and will certainly bring home moments of nostalgia to all those who participated in the operation. Of particular interest is the recording of the actions of the pathfinders and the initial glider assault forcesto my knowledge this is the first comprehensive and authoritative resume of their vital contribution to the success of the operation. And while it would be manifestly unfair to single out any particular section of this personal experience record for special mention, the performance of the medical personnelthose Angels of Mercywill certainly be eternally remembered for their unselfish devotion to their cause.

The authenticity of the book is self-evidentMr. Koskimaki has performed an admirable research task in securing, analyzing, and synthesizing the firsthand accounts of more than five hundred individuals representing scores of small assault units in the division. The overall editing is highly commendableto tell it as it was, and yet avoid a multiplicity of duplicated recitals could only have been accomplished by painstaking attention on the part of a dedicated writer.

This book will without question have a most personal reception by the thousands of American paratroopers who participated in the aerial invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, as well as the millions of servicemen who have undergone war experiences similar to those encountered at Normandy. I think it particularly apropos that this book should reach the American public at a time when certain individuals appear to have forgotten, at least temporarily, that just one generation ago thousands of young citizen-soldiers fought and died for their country without asking whats in it for me? D-Day With The Screaming Eagles could well serve to remind the young man of today that the young man of yesterday was possessed of a courage that he might well emulate.

This is the story of D-Day as told collectively by former paratroopers and glidermen of the 101st Airborne Division.

The story begins with the marshaling area preparations in England and then proceeds with the flight across the Channel, the approach over the Cherbourg Peninsula, the actual drops and glider landings, and the first day experiences of these men as lost and lonely individuals, gradually assembling in small groups, then into company-sized units, and finally, into the skeleton battalions and regiments, which were assigned the missions. Connecting narrative and summations reveal the success or failure of these missions.

I wrote to over 1,300 former Screaming Eagles to get their recollections. Many of them sent me copies of their first letters (while others trusted me with precious originals) written from the battlefield when we were first permitted to describe our initial experiences. A total of 518 former paratroopers and glidermen contributed to this account. Each contribution has been placed in the proper sequence of events.

One chapter is devoted to the work of the pathfindersthose men who served as trail blazers to light the way and guide the main body of the 101st Airborne Division to its drop and landing zones. No one has ever written about them. Information concerning much of their operations was classified for many years after the war. Some of the material was released to me by the former chief pathfinder, Colonel Frank Lillyman, who edited the chapter. It contains the experiences of these selected men.

No one has previously related the experiences of these glider troopers. The material on the glider chapter has been edited by former Colonel Mike Murphy who was in charge of the American glider lifts into Normandy. He piloted the lead glider into the Screaming Eagle landing area. One of his passengers, Brig. General Donald F. Pratt, the assistance division commander, became the first Allied general officer to lose his life in the invasion.