| Original caption: “United States paratroopers, their faces blackened so they would be more difficult to see in the darkness, en route to their drop zone.” Paratroopers of F Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Infantry Division, in “Chalk 76” on June 5, 1944, just before deployment to France for the invasion of Normandy. They took off from Royal Air Force (RAF) Station Pottery with Serial 12 (12th Flight of 3 or 4 C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft) of the 94th Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Trooper Carrier Group and landed in Drop Zone C over Hiesville, France at 0120 Hours on June 6, 1944. From left to right: Private 1st Class William G. Olanie (April 29, 1923 – November 9, 1951) of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he completed a 115-mile (185-kilometer) march in 3 days, setting an infantry record. survived the battles in Normandy with a minor wound. He was decorated for attacking a Nazi German artillery emplacement, killing 14 and capturing 42. Olanie was promoted to Staff Sergeant and led an infantry squad. He was seriously wounded on February 14, 1945. After the war, he transferred to the 17th Airborne Infantry Division. He returned to the United States in September 1945 to work as a mechanic for United Airlines and was killed in an automobile accident in a snowstorm. Sergeant Frank D. Griffin Jr. (December 29, 1920 – September 24, 1990) of Worcester, Massachusetts, enlisted on August 17, 1942, in Boston. He survived the Battle of Normandy. During the Battle of Eindhoven, Griffin, as mortar squad leader, directed M2 60-millimeter mortar fire on Nazi German positions to silence their artillery, despite lacking his bipod; he stabilized the mortar between his legs. Shot during Operation Market Garden, fractured by the bullet. Griffin’s wound was infected with scabies, and he was discharged on December 20, 1945, due to his wounds. He returned to the United States and became a pipefitter, active in his union. Private 1st Class Robert J. “Smokey” Noody (April 30, 1924 – April 20, 2020) of Pellston, Michigan, and later Buffalo, New York, originally sought the priesthood but was inducted on February 25, 1943. He also trained at Fort Benning. He fought in Normandy, Holland, and Bastogne. The rope seen here helped Noody get out of the tree he landed on in Normandy. Noody fired his M1A1 “Bazooka,” sen here in this view, during the Normandy campaign, using up all 3 rockets he carried to stop a Nazi German tank. With the weapon, rockets, and other gear, Noody thought he was carrying 250 pounds onto the plane. Noody received 2 Bronze Stars, was wounded twice, and the French Legion of Honor. Nobody was honorably discharged from active duty as a Sergeant on November 29, 1945, at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He became a barber and worked in insurance. He was much sought after for interviews until his death. Corporal Lester T. Hegland (January 6, 1923 – January 17, 1982) just off camera, was wounded on June 13, 1944, during the Battle of Carentan. After treatment, he was discharged in 1945. He worked for Epko Film Service and his father’s sign company after the war. He died of cancer. The Douglas C-47A-75-DL Skytrain 42-100849 “Chalk 76” of the 94th Troops Carrier Squadron, 439th Trooper Carrier Group, 9th Air Force, was piloted by 1st Lieutenant Harold W. King, pilot; (August 13, 1917 – May 10, 1999). After successfully completing the Serial 12 flight with 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, King and his crew in 42-100849 were able to complete several more drops and glider tows over the next few days. King became flight commander and was promoted to Captain after the Normandy invasion. On September 18, 1944, during Operation Market Garden, King reported the forced landing of C-47 43-93098 due to anti-aircraft artillery damage. All 5 crewmen were missing in action. 1st Lieutenant Frank P. De Felitta (August 3, 1921 – March 29, 2016) went on to a successful writing career after World War II. He was the author of the horror novels Audrey Rose and the Entity. He went on to write Hollywood screenplays in the 1970s. In 1991, he made his feature directing debut with the film Scissors after helming many television movies. Born and raised in New York City, 2nd Lieutenant Thomas A. Waldman (July 8, 1922 – June 23, 1985), later a resident of Los Angeles, California during the war, navigator of “Chalk 79,” was in Europe for 20 months. He often flew as navigator for Major General Maxwell D. Taylor (August 26, 1901 – April 19, 1987), commander of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division. He liberated Hermann Goering’s (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) personal black leather trench coat from the Kehlsteinhaus in Berchtesgaden, the Nazi Party’s mountain retreat and often, incorrectly, thought of as Führer und Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) last stronghold. The 101st Airborne Infantry Division claims to be the 1st Allied unit to occupy Berchtesgaden and the Kehlsteinhaus. Waldman appeared in national media wearing the comically oversized trench coat, which he later had tailored to fit. After the war, Waldman moved to Pittsboro, North Carolina. Sergeant Jerome Sterling (September 6, 1924 – June 23, 2015) of Worcester, Massachusetts, enlisted on December 10, 1942, in Springfield. Sterling operated the radio in 42-100849 “Chalk 76” on the night of the invasion. He moved to Miami after World War II and worked for the United States Postal Service. On June 7, King and his crew, in 42-100849 flew Serial 36 as “Chalk 45,” during Mission Hackensack, which delivered reinforcements to the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division. Their C-47 towed a Waco CG-4A glider for this mission. 42-100849 was delivered to the United States Army Air Force on December 22, 1943. After training in Fort Wayne Indiana, the C-47 departed for Europe in February 1944, flying the southern route through Puerto Rico; Brazil; Dakar, Senegal; Morocco; and then to Cornwall. The aircraft arrived at Upottery on April 26, 1944. The 439th deployed to France on September 28, 1944. After the unit moved to Chateaudun, a former Luftwaffe (“Nazi German Air Force”) airfield on November 4, 1944, 42-100849 crashed landed in Souge after running out of fuel on November 9, 1944. The aircraft was salvaged on May 31, 1946. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0448.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.72 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5647 x 4467 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 5, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Upottery |
| State or Province | Devon |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Archive | United States Air Force |
| Record Number | 190111-F-IO108-001 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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