In World War II, the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron dropped paratroopers onto the battlefield, often in the face of heavy fire. This book relates the exploits of the 81st, which mirrored the combat experience of World War II troop carrier units.

New ed. of: Green light! : men of the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron tell their story. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c1989. Shipping list no.: 1993-0705-P. INCLUDES INDEX. New edition of: Green light! : men of the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron tell their story. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c1989. Shipping list no.: 93-0705-P.

Preface -- Maps -- 1. Starting up: how to put a squadron together -- Where we all came from -- "What's your MOS?" -- It was not a summer camp -- Training crews -- 2. Getting blooded: airborne operations before our time -- Airborne combat begins -- The Germans conquer Crete -- Warming up -- Troop carrier's baptism of fire: North Africa, Sicily, Italy -- 3. Traveling: on the road to our war -- The trip -- "It's rough in the ETO!" -- 4. Getting with it: training and tourism in the ETO -- Training in England -- Tourists -- Getting to know them -- 5. Assaulting: to Normandy and back -- D-Day: a day of revelations -- Securing the base -- "This is it!" -- 6. Reinforcing: our Normandy glider mission -- Pre-dawn glider missions -- Operation ELMIRA -- Over LZ "W" -- and on it -- 7. Evaluating: second thoughts about Operation NEPTUNE -- NEPTUNE worked -- Troop carrier and NEPTUNE -- Judging the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron's role -- The airborne troopers' view -- Judging ourselves -- 8. Flying: plane, pilots, and crew -- The C-47 -- "We were all a little crazy" -- Radio operators and crew chiefs -- 9. Gliding: our "glider guiders" -- Whose "return trip war"? -- Doctrine and training -- Glider pilots and their status -- 10. Engineering: what it took to keep 'em flying -- Fly it or junk it -- Our Engineering TO -- Party of the first part -- On the glider line -- Morale on the line -- 11. Commanding: how to run combat operations -- The TO of the TCC -- The operations office -- The motor pool -- Communications -- Intelligence -- 12. Managing: how to run a squadron -- The orderly room -- Sick call! -- Chow! -- Quartermaster supply -- 13. Breaking out: the controversy over troop carrier freighting potential -- Fighters or freighters? -- Giving Patton the gas -- 14. Sunning: Italy and the assault on Southern France -- From Membury to Voltone -- Politics and strategy in Operation DRAGOON -- The missions -- "Champagne campaign"? -- 15. Market-Gardening: "airborne carpet" or "hell's highway"? -- Three names -- "A bridge too far"? -- The first two missions -- Was there still a chance? -- 16. Falling short: the tragic outcome of the Holland invasion -- An aborted mission -- MARKET-GARDEN falls to pieces -- Did troop carrier fail the test? -- 17. Reassessing: glider potential and performance -- The Waco and the Horsa -- Assessing the glider's role -- Their critiques and our experiences -- 18. Re-supplying: the Battle of the Bulge -- A dreaded winter war -- Hitler's Ardennes offensive -- 19. Camping out: The French connection -- Setting up at Melun -- At home in "Tent City" -- Operations before the Rhine assault -- The first time I saw Paris -- 20. Supporting Montgomery: Preparations for the last assault -- Summitry -- Planning VARSITY -- Preliminaries at Melun -- 21. Storming Germany: the drop across the Rhine -- Our Rhine journey -- Casualty lists -- Hell on the ground -- Assessing VARSITY -- 22. Cleaning up: the final missions and the return home -- Repatriations -- Adding up "points" -- Last missions -- Tag ends -- Splitting up -- 23. Thinking back: how it looks to us now -- Judging troop carrier -- "A good outfit" -- How our experiences changed our lives -- Forgotten fields -- Appendix 1. 81st Troop Carrier Squadron casualties -- Appendix 2. The roster, February 1945 -- Appendix 3. Time line: airborne history and the 81st TCS -- Glossary -- Sources -- Index.