Todays Thought: Richard Hernandez “Whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you.
Announced: Dan Davis is out of intensive care and rehabilitating, Gus’s secret surgery went well.
Sgt. At Arms: Jane Anne and Val fleeced the crowd. Clent got ice tea for JA and she made everyone pay a Buck for not waiting on her. John Stewart, Greg Barstad and Glen Hammond were fined for being slightly late. Remember if you are not early you are late. Happy bucks all around. Donna Jacobs got happy bucks for moving back to Prescott.
Speaker: World War II Pathfinder pilot Lt. Col. David Hamilton (97), from Prescott, Arizona, returned to the same British airfield from which he and fellow pilots launched a pre-invasion strike on June 5, 1944.
Hamilton’s visit to RAF North Witham in Lincolnshire, England, on June 2, was put together by the South Kesteven District Council. It is part of the activities taking place in England surrounding the 75th anniversary of the commencement of the Liberation of Europe, better known as D-Day. Hamilton is the last surviving Pathfinder pilot from a dangerous and top secret mission. “Dave Hamilton is a true American hero,” said Hank Coates, president and CEO of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF). “He and his fellow Pathfinders flew a dangerous and vital mission in advance of the main D-Day invasion. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to back this trip for Dave, giving him a chance not only to return to his old airfield, but to share his story with the residents of North and South Witham on the 75th anniversary of this historic event.”
Hamilton was part of an elite Pathfinder unit comprising air crew from the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) IX Troop Carrier Command and volunteers from the U.S. Army’s 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. They spent months at RAF North Witham training in secrecy for the mission - to land in darkness behind enemy lines, secure landing areas and set up navigational aids to guide in the main airborne invasion force of C-47s carrying paratroops and towing gliders. At 21.54 hours on June 5, 1944, the first of their 20 Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft took off from RAF North Witham – USAAF Station 479 – laden with specially trained paratroops and flying at 50 feet over the English Channel to dodge the radar. The Allied amphibious fleets were well on their way to Normandy when the Pathfinders took to the air. Aircraft jumpmasters would have witnessed the spectacle of the Allied fleet crossing the Channel as they passed overhead. Within hours, hundreds more airborne troops would land in Normandy, many transported in C-47s flying from airfields around Grantham. They were joined by more paratroopers and assault gliders from bases in southern England
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British airfield from which he and fellow pilots launched a pre-invasion strike on June 5, 1944.
