St. Mere Eglise II

Dave stands next to a Sherman tank with the church in the background. In the museum is an exhibit showing inside an 82nd Division glider. The vast majority of glider landings were made by the All-American Division in the D-Day invasion. They along with the glidermen of the 101st took heavy losses. 16% of the 82nd glider forces were casualties on the landing. In the 101st it was 27% with the commanding General Donald Pratt being killed when the protective gear in the glider caused the aircraft to be 30%, or about 1,000 pounds overweight , overshoot their landing zone and smash into a tree. A large number of the equipment was made ineffective, including artillery pieces and mini bulldozers brought in to clear Rommel asparagus and create a safe landing strip. Only 13 of the 516 were salvaged in the attack. Their slogan was "Join the Glider forces. No flight pay. No Jump pay. But never a dull moment!"