Hours before dawn on June 6, 1944, the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions dropped in Normandy behind Utah Beach. Their mission--to establish a firm foothold for the invading armies. What followed if one of the great and veritable stories of men at war. Although the Germans defenders were spread thin, the hedgerow terrain favored them; and the American successes when they eventually did come were bloody, sporadic, often accidental. As the threads of the operation twine together, combat soldiers emerge as they really are...face to face with danger and with themselves. Seldom before have Americans at war been so starkly and candidly described, in both their cowardice and their courage. Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall collected information for this direct interviews with the men in the field within days after the action took place in June, 1944. His notes have served as the raw material for several histories, written by others, of the Normandy invasion.

Includes index.

Book One: Against the Merderet -- 1. Into the Marshes --2. Soft Fall amid Tension --3. Turnbull's Platoon -- 4. The Affair on Hill 30 --5. The Milling Crowd --6. Levy and Patrol --7. Done the Hard Way -- 8. No Better Spot to Die -- 9. Kickback at Hill 20 -- 10. One Pack of Strays -- 11. Fate's Long Hand -- 12. Through the Ford -- 13. Hill 30 and Millsap's Patrol -- 14. Charge of a Causeway -- 15. Struggle for Mobility-- 16. Building the Bridge4head -- 17. Misery and Grandeur -- Book Two: Crossing the Douve -- 18. Pat Cassidy and Outfit -- 19. Roses all the Way -- 20. Summers at WXYZ -- 21. Road Blocks at Foucaville -- 22. The Man and the Lock -- 23. At Les Droueries --24. Call on "Poopvile" -- 25. Other Screaming Eagles -- 26. Westward Ho! -- 27. Comes the Artillery -- 28. Call it Hell's Corners -- 29. The Snafu Engagement -- 30. Reconnaissance -- 31. Approach -- 32. Long, Long Night -- 33. Charge -- 34. Life on the Farm --35. Support -- 36. The Cabbage Patch -- 37. Rout --38. Crisis -- Epilogue -- Index