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Thursday, June 6, 2019

P-51 Mustang on D-Day

P-51 Mustang on D-Day

Today is the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.  This is the day that the Allies landed in Normandy France to start the liberation of Europe from NAZI tyranny.  The above plane is the P-51 Fighter Plane from the U.S. Army Air Corps.  It has black and white stripes painted on the wings that were done that way for D-Day.  They called them "Invasion Stripes."  Some other planes, like the P-47 fighter, also had the invasion stripes.  A few months later most of the planes had the stripes removed.  The ships down below, in the English Channel, include destroyers, a battleship, and a cruiser... plus in the foreground are two landing craft on their way to the beach.  

P-51 with D-Day Invasion Stripes
This link is a web site with the photo and other WW 2 era photos of planes with invasion stripes.

My father was a B-24 Bomber pilot in WW 2.  I don't think he participated in the bombing on D-Day.  But my dad did fly 13 missions over Europe to drop tanks, fly clear to the bombers' target and escort the bombers all the time.  Dad was never shot down but he did crash land on the way to Europe.  His two best friends, who enlisted with him right after Pearl Harabor was bombed...both died in plane crashes during training.  Those two young men gave their lives, even though they never saw combat.  Today we salute all the soldiers who died and those who survived their service years.
Without brave soldiers we would certainly not have our freedom.  


B-24J Liberator 
B-24 Bombers DID participate in the pre-invasion bombing of the Normandy Coast.


NOTE:  The printable version of the drawings are found by clicking on the top button labeled Transportation.  The drawings are also found under the All Printables buttons.   The  newer darawings are found at the bottom of the lists and the older drawings are further up the list. 
     

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