European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Fame came from the sky it Iton  Nurnberg Bureau Fame for the Small quiet Norman town of  came from the sky pushed by t he wind and confusion of War. Perhaps if All had gone according to plan and. The paratroops who carried the invasion of France on the soles of their jump boots had hit. The intended drop zones outside the town instead of the Village Square  would have remained a fairly Anonymous French town one of dozens in the Region liberated by the a Day invasion Force. But paratroops a perhaps Only 20 or 30 a drifted into , and in the ensuing fighting it became the first French town freed from nazi occupation. The Story of that night is told still from parents to children and then to grandchildren of How a House fire late on the night of june 5, 1944, brought Many citizens to the town Square where forming quickly into a line they handed from one to another buckets filled with water coaxed from the old town pump  of How during  the liberators floated into the scene bringing with them death and Freedom. Veterans of the Battle come annually to bask in their glory amid streets that Bear their names. A each year we Welcome soldiers a said Henri Jean Renaud a pharmacist and son of the Man what happened a sit. -Mere-egl1se who was mayor in 1944. But this year Renaud said the 1,600 townspeople Are a bit More worried. Attending will be More veterans More visitors More dignitaries. The 50th anniversary will attract More scrutiny. A the people arc Happy about the Celebration but they Are  anxious a he said in his downtown office that was his family Home on a  More reason for the anxiety perhaps is the possibility that this one vill be the last anniversary with so Many participants from the Battle on hand. The liberators and the liberated Are getting older. For the veterans even the youngest arc pushing 70. For the villagers even those who were children and old enough to remember Are in their 60s. There will soon be an anniversary and no yets will come. A a it a the last big one a said Renaud a bit sadly.  will survive. The notoriety of being the first town liberated and the subsequent Fame provided by the Book and movie the longest to Gay have spawned a cottage Industry Here. A museum honors the airborne troops who fought Here bringing 140,000 visitors annually. A cafe carries the name 6 juin in Honor of the Day. A Street is named for Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower and another is named for Brig. Gen. James m. Gavin both heroes of the Day. Monuments honouring those who fought Here Greet visitors at the Edge of town. A few years ago Robert Murphy a paratrooper who plopped Down in the Garden of a Village woman it was honoured with a Street in his Honor. The Boston lawyer has returned Many times to the town and residents boast today of a Friendship with  from the Church Steeple hangs a Dummy representing John Steele a paratrooper who dangled there while fighting raged beneath him. He was portrayed by actor red buttons in the movie. A hotel bearing Steele a name is marked by a Small paratrooper trimmed in Neon. It sounds Hokey but it Isnit. Not like the Mark Twain Fried Chicken diner in Hannibal to. Or the will Rogers dry cleaners in Tulsa okla. The Street names and the monuments Here Are tinged with a sense of respect admiration and eternal thanks rather than a sense of exploitation the City has never relied on the tourist Trade for its economic livelihood. The farms around the town Are still More important than the tourists who spend a night or two in a local hotel. To , a Day is a reverent Date not a marketing tool. A it is More important than 14 july a said Jean Bernard Valones in reference to the Date that Marks the anniversary of the French revolution of 1789. Valones 36, grew up in  and by the stars anti stripes the american paratroops who climbed into air transports the night of june 5,1944, knew  Only As a Point on the invasion map. A few hours later the Little Market settlement seven Miles from Utah Beach was the first town liberated in France. The americans from the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions along with their counterparts from the British 6th airborne div were dropped behind enemy lines in the Early morning hours june 6 to secure the flanks of the Landing area Inland or the Allied Bench Landing forces. Shortly after Midnight in the american sector six pathfinders already were on the ground setting up ground lights As orientation for the paratroops to follow. Around 1 ., Black faced figures fell from the Cloudy skies As wave after w ave of american paratroops jumped on  and the area of the nearby town of care Tan. More than 15,000 americans were involved in the jump. The 82nd airborne had the primary Mission to take  and Cut off rail and Highway communications Between Cherbourg and Paris. The 101st was to take care Tan and control the locks in the marshes of the area. In addition the 101st was to take the sector Between  and the coast in order to join up with the Landing troops of the 4th inf div near la Madeleine and  at Utah Beach. All in All 1,660 sorties of planes and 152 transport gliders were used in this operation to get men and equipment into the drop zones. Many missed their assigned drop zones for a variety of reasons including anti aircraft fire poor visibility and Strong gusts of w ind. Most of the men of the 3rd in 505th Parachute inf Reg commanded by it. Col. Edward c. Krause fell in the designated drop zone Northwest of town. Krause parachuted into the Small Garden where he had planned his battalion rendezvous lie found 15 of his men close by and sent them out to find others. An hour later the battalion was 108 Strong plus a Drunken Frenchman who had been roped in because he seemed to know of about 100 German anti aircraft motor transport and service troops in . Krause decided to wait no longer and set off to take the town. Thirty men had dropped into the Village Square itself where the inhabitants were fighting a fire in a House on the Square that had been set Olsby an incendiary bomb. When Krauser a men entered the town they saw their buddies hanging dead in their Chute harnesses. They met Strong German resistance and had to fight with knives bayonets and grenades to Clear the town killing 41 and taking 30 prisoners during the combat. Krause raised his american Flag in front of Tow n Hall at 4 30  June 6, the first . Flag to wave on French soil on a Day. That Flag is enshrined in the  town Hall lobby. The Beach exits were taken by units of the 101st airborne div. The paratroops also took control of the Bridge on the Douve River and the locks of la briquet it at care Tan. At the end of the Day Contact was established at the Beach exits with the 4th . Inf div which landed at Utah Beach.  h Ste Mere eglise is about 50 Miles from Caen a to get there from Caen take ne13 e 46 through Bayeux to care Tan. Then take ne13 e03 North either to d913 or to . A amps Susan Harris 16 a stars and stripes commemorative edition june 6, 1994