St. Mere Eglise lies fifteen minutes north of Utah Beach and was the first village to be liberated by the Americans. It was around this village that many paratroopers, facing terrible weather and heavy anti-aircraft fire, landed off-target--and many landed in the town. One American paratrooper, Private John Steel, dangled from the towns church steeple for two hours while his buddies were being killed in the town center. He was played in the movie "The Longest Day" by Red Buttons. A parachute has been reinstalled on the steeple were he became snagged--though not in the correct corner. The 700-year-old medieval church on the town square was the focus of the action during the invasion.
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