The First Men in: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day [The gathering host -- Train thoroughly -- Operation Neptune -- Countdown -- All that bravery and devotion to duty could do -- A fire-lit sky -- Our sons -- Ste Mère Eglse -- La Fière Bridge -- Under fire -- Counterattack -- No better place to die -- First assault -- The gauntlet]

Ruggero, Ed ; design, Joseph Rutt; jacket, Roberta de Vicq de Cumptich; photograph, Melanie Arnold

ISBN 10: 0060731281 / ISBN 13: 9780060731281

Published by New York : HarperCollins, c2006., 2006

About this Item

1st ed., 1st printing ; x, 349 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm ; ISBN 9780060731281, 9780060731298, 0060731281, 006073129X ; OCLC 63117047 ; LCCN 2006040158 ; LOC No D756.5.N6 R84 2006 ; Dewey 940.54/21421 ; black cloth in grey black and red photographic dustjacket ; Contents: The gathering host -- Train thoroughly -- Operation Neptune -- Countdown -- All that bravery and devotion to duty could do -- A fire-lit sky -- Our sons -- Ste Me`re Eglse -- La Fie`re Bridge -- Under fire -- Counterattack -- No better place to die -- First assault -- The gauntlet ; Of the nearly 15,000 Allied paratroopers dropped into France on D-14 (two weeks before D-Day), only one regiment--the 3,000 men of the 505 Parachute Infantry--had been tested in battle, and so they were given the toughest mission. For a few critical days, while the fate of occupied Europe hung in the balance, these troopers held their ground against savage assaults. In doing so, they changed the course of World War II. Within hours of landing in Normandy, the paratroopers of the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment had gathered in the darkened fields outside Ste. Mere Eglise and moved rapidly to the edge of town. A French civilian pointed out the German positions, and in a lightning attack the GI's liberated the first town in Europe, planting the United States flag on top of city hall. Shortly after daylight, as reports streamed in, Allied commanders were shocked to learn that the 505 was the only one of six U.S. parachute regiments to hit its mark. Because Ste. Mere Eglise was the gateway to Utah Beach, the regiment--now fighting virtually alone--hastily dug in to await the German counterattacks that were sure to follow. Colonel Bill Ekman and his men held critical ground: half of the American invasion force was to pass through this area, and that would only happen if the 505 held Ste. Mere Eglise. It was an almost unimaginable challenge: at ten that morning the German attacks began, and by early afternoon enemy armored columns were slamming GI lines from three directions in an attempt to reach the vulnerable invasion beaches. But despite heavy losses, the 505 was still in control of Ste. Mere Eglise on June 8, when they were relieved by units that came across the beach. When their unseasoned replacements faltered, U.S. commanders called on the exhausted paratroopers to stay in the fight and lead the series of ground assaults that would secure the invasion. A single unit, a relative handful of men, had helped turn the course of one of the most important battles of the war. ; FINE/FINE.

Seller Inventory # 008560

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First Men in: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day [The gathering host -- Train thoroughly -- Operation Neptune -- Countdown -- All that bravery and devotion to duty could do -- A fire-lit sky -- Our sons -- Ste Mère Eglse -- La Fière Bridge -- Under fire -- Counterattack -- No better place to die -- First assault -- The gauntlet]
• Publisher: New York : HarperCollins, c2006.
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060731281
• ISBN 13: 9780060731281
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

In the hours before the D-Day landing, their brilliant success behind enemy lines changed the course of history.

In the tradition of Steven Ambrose's D-Day and Band of Brothers, The First Men In tells the remarkable story of the American paratroopers who took on one of the most important and dangerous missions of World War II. On the eve of D-Day, the 82nd Airborne Division parachuted into key positions along the Normandy coast, spearheading the assault on Fortress Europe. Using extensive firsthand interviews with the men of the 82nd, Ed Ruggero vividly brings them to life. This "first-rate story-teller" (Denver Post) weaves their improbable achievement into an unforgettable narrative.

Only one unit of the 82nd -- the 3,000 men of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment -- had previously been tested in battle. These heroes of the brutal 1943 invasion of Sicily -- whose story was brilliantly told in Ruggero's Combat Jump -- were given one of the toughest assignments, that of securing the critical crossroads town of Ste. Mère Eglise, the gateway to Utah Beach, through which half of the U.S. invasion force had to pass. Within hours of landing in Normandy, the 505th had accomplished its mission and seized Ste. Mère Eglise, the first town in Europe to be liberated. But as the sun rose on June 6, 1944, and as the assault waves struggled ashore on fire-swept beaches, the airborne commanders realized that most of the nearly 14,000 paratroopers dropped on the extreme right flank of the Allied invasion area had missed their targets.

The scattered troopers fought in small groups, cut off from one another by the dense Norman hedgerows and cleverly dug-in German defenders. Putting themselves between the vulnerable landing beaches and repeated enemy assaults, the lightly armed paratroopers fought for no-name crossroads and isolated fields on the first few miles of the long road to Berlin. Their training, courage, and leadership paid off; with their blood, they purchased the critical hours the Allies needed to get ashore. Often outnumbered and frequently outgunned, the men of the 82nd accomplished every mission, held every piece of ground they gained, and thus helped secure the success of the greatest amphibious invasion in history.

About the Author

Ed Ruggero is the author of Combat Jump: The Young Men Who Led the Assault into Fortress Europe, July 1943 and Duty First: A Year in the Life of West Point and the Making of American Leaders. He was an infantry officer in the United States Army for eleven years and is an experienced keynote speaker on leadership development. He lives in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.