Page 282 - Demo

"I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle.
We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”
-General Dwight D. Eisenhower
LOT 410
Historic Grouping of Artifacts and Documents for Pathfinder Frank Lillyman, “First Man In” for the 101st Airborne in Normandy on D-Day - Conceived and assembled following lessons learned on earlier Allied air drops, the Pathfinder units of United States Army served as the
280 tip of the spearhead of American forces. Selected from among the ranks
of the airborne infantry, Pathfinders were trained on an array of signal and guidance devices, with which they could go into an intended drop zone ahead of the main airborne body to act as guides for the larger grouping of planes and gliders. This job, to be blunt, was exceptionally dangerous; between when they dropped and when the rest of the unit made it in, they were alone in very hostile territory, and they were expected to actively
seek and destroy enemies who presented a threat to the drop zone. On the evening of June 5th, 1944, Captain Frank Lillyman was the overall commander of the 101st Airborne’s Pathfinders, as well as the field leader of one of the Pathfinder elements, when the word came that the invasion was on; D-Day was happening, and it was time to gear up and roll out.