For the First French Town Liberated on D-Day, History Is Personal
By JAMES G. NEUSS
Published: June 6, 2014
Sainte-Mère-Église, France — The American paratrooper who landed here on D-Day, June 6, 1944, was supposed to be a replacement for a soldier who had been killed. But the replacement, John Steele, was killed in the jump, and the soldier he was supposed to replace, Richard Winters, was not on the plane.
So Mr. Steele, who had been a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, was left hanging from the church steeple in the town square, his parachute caught on the spire.
The story of Mr. Steele’s dangling for two hours, until he was rescued by a German patrol, has become a legend of D-Day. It is told in the book and television series “Band of Brothers,” which was based on Mr. Winters’s memoir, “Beyond Band of Brothers.”
The story is also told in the town museum, which is filled with artifacts from the war, including a parachute that was caught on the church steeple.
“It’s a very important day for us,” said Jean-Pierre Leclerc, the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église, who was born in the town and has lived here all his life. “It’s the day we were liberated.”
The town, which is about 10 miles inland from the Normandy coast, was the first French town liberated on D-Day. The American paratroopers who landed here were part of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, which were dropped behind enemy lines to secure the flanks of the invasion force.
The town was also the first to be retaken by the Germans, who recaptured it on June 12, 1944.
“It was a very difficult time,” Mr. Leclerc said. “We were liberated, and then we were occupied again.”
The town was liberated for good on July 18, 1944, when the American forces returned.