04/14/2026
Mountain Flagpoles
On the night of June 5–6, 1944, during the D Day airborne assault ahead of the Normandy landings, John Steele, a paratrooper with the 82nd. Airborne Division, jumped into the town of Sainte-Mère-Église.
• Due to heavy anti-aircraft fire and confusion, many paratroopers landed off target—some right in the middle of the town square.
• Steele’s parachute snagged on the church steeple, leaving him hanging high above the ground.
While he was hanging there
• German troops were already in the square, and fighting broke out below him.
• Steele played dead for about two hours to avoid being shot.
• Eventually, German soldiers took him down and captured him.
What happened after
• Steele later escaped captivity and rejoined his unit.
• The town of Sainte-Mère-Église became one of the first liberated towns in France on D-Day.
Today
• The church still honors him with a parachute dummy hanging from the steeple, a famous and memorable tribute you can see if you visit.