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D-DAY, 6 JUNE 1944, OBJECTIVE:
OMAHA, UTAH, SWORD, JUNO AND GOLD BEACHES AND BEYOND
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"...2.056 men of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (attached
to the 82nd Airborne) jumped into Normandy on D-Day, and on July 15,
[only] 918 returned. The rest had been killed, captured or wounded. "
Source: The late O. B. Hill, 508th P.I.R. Association,
82nd Airborne Division, Cathedral Hill, CA
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 On May 29th, the unit
commanders informed their troopers that the invasion was imminent and that
the camp was sealed. Less than a week later the regiment was moved to
three departure airfields, one of which was Folkingham. There the troopers
were issued the necessary gear and detailed planning commenced to insure that
all concerned knew their Drop Zone (DZ), objectives, password and the many
other details involved in such an undertaking. The initial attempt to
invade France on the evening of June 4th became a false start that was
aborted due to weather. Twenty-fourv hours later the 508th joined thousand
of other paratroopers in the 82nd and 101st as the invasion was finally launched.
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