Brothers in Arms March V
Road to Carentan
Sunday 7 June 2009
In the footsteps of the 101st Airborne Division
The Carentan Historical Foundation in association with the D-Day Paratrooper Historical
Center and the Municipalities of Carentan and Saint-Côme-du-Mont in Normandy is
organizing its 5th annual march on Sunday 7th June 2009. The 18km trek follows the historic
trail carved out by the 101st Airborne Division as its soldiers fought bravely to liberate the
region in 1944.
This being the 65th anniversary of D-Day we are expecting more than five hundred
participants to take part. The marchers who include people from the USA and Japan will be
dressed in US Airborne clothing (authentic to the period) to commemorate the sacrifice of the
young American paratroopers who went on to capture Carentan.
The day will start in the heart of the battlefield at Saint-Côme-du-Mont with a ceremony to
honor Technical Sergeant Joseph R. Beyrle. Joe was a paratrooper from the famous 506th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, who was taken prisoner after he landed on the church roof on
June 6th 1944 by German paratroopers from the 6 FJR.
Three of his comrades in arms will be making a special trip from the USA (two of them for
the first time since the war) to participate at the ceremony and to promote a new book
‘Tonight We Die As Men’ and it’s companion DVD ‘The Forgotten Battalion,’ at Dead Man’s
Corner Museum, about their exploits in Normandy during June 1944.
Bill Galbraith, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division
Manny Barrios 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division
Ralph Bennett, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division (TBC)
TONIGHT WE DIE AS MEN
THE UNTOLD STORY OF THIRD BATTALION 506 PARACHUTE
INFANTRY REGIMENT FROM TOCCOA TO D-DAY
By Ian Gardner and Roger Day
Taking their title from a brief prayer by 3rd Battalion C.O. Lt. Col. Robert Lee Wolverton
(who would be killed during the early morning hours of D-Day) said shortly before boarding
their C-47 "Skytrain" aircraft for the flight to Normandy, Gardner and Day have produced a
highly detailed study of one battalion's harrowing first weeks fighting in France.
As Ed Shames, a veteran of the 506th, writes in the Foreword, Tonight We Die As Men
is "the most detailed history ever written about the battles that began the drive to free the
European continent of the German armies. Many books and accounts have been written about
the invasion of Normandy, but never have you read one that has been more accurate about the
facts and events of this period of warfare."
The battalion's D-Day objective was to land at Drop Zone ‘D’, east of Saint-Côme-duMont and seize control of two small wooden bridges - one for foot traffic and the other for
vehicles - over the Douve River east of Carentan. The mission was vital, for the Germans had
built the bridges a few months earlier to enable them to rush reinforcements into the coastal
area in the event of an Allied landing.
The fierce and costly battle for these two bridges is the focus of Tonight We Die As
Men. The Germans, too, knew the importance of the bridges and would not relenquish them
without an all-out fight.
The two British authors take the reader back to Toccoa, Georgia, and the initial
training received (some would say endured) by the men of the 506th PIR, commanded by Col.
Robert F. Sink, then on to airborne training at Fort Benning and Camp Mackall. They also
flesh out the personalities mentioned in the book so that by the time the regiment is in
England and preparing for its baptism of fire in Normandy, the reader has developed a
fondness for each trooper.
This personalizing of the men also serves to intensify the feeling of loss when the
soldiers are killed in the savage fighting on D-Day and the month after. Of the 575 officers
and men who jumped on D-Day, the unit lost 93 killed and 73 listed as missing in action.
Scores more were wounded. It will be hard to find a better book about a single airborne
battalion in World War II.
Mason B. Webb WWII History Magazine
The marchers will then step back in time to discover the Norman Bocage that was so familiar
to the soldiers of 101st Airborne. The final leg of the event takes the participants, lead by
tanks and a host of military vehicles - down the now famous "Purple Heart Lane" across the
Douve bridges before ending in Carentan.
All participants please note: US Para and airborne troops combat uniform, 101st Airborne
Division is required.
At 15:15 approx, members of the public can expect to see the marchers lead by their vehicle
escort arriving in ‘Purple Heart Lane’ for the final leg of the event before crossing over the
Douve bridges and finishing in Carentan at 16:00.
9 h 00
10 h 00
15 h 15
15 h 45
16 h 30
Depart of the BIA
500 Paratroops of the ‘BIA March’ gather in the village of Saint-Côme-duMont for the ceremony to Joe Beyrle
Arrival of the veterans and Honor Guard
Marchers arrive at «Dead Man’s Corner Museum» to form up for final phase
Marchers move down Purple Heart Lane in formation to Carentan
Recreation of the famous medal ceremony in the square at Carentan
Arrival of the veterans and Honor Guard
Followed by a short ceremony attended by town officials
On June 6 and 7, a special display about the 3rd Battalion of the 506th PIR will take place at
the D-Day Paratrooper Historical Center in the field at Dead Man’s Corner.
BIA March Information & registration: Carentan Historical Foundation
Email : brothersinarmsmarch@orange.fr
Tel : +33.2.33.42.00.42
T/4 Joseph R. “Jumpin Joe” BEYRLE
“I” Company, 506th PIR,
101st Airborne Division
Joe Beyrle is thought to be the one of only a
handful of American soldiers to have served in
both the United States Army and the Soviet
Army in World War II. “The invasion of
Normandy was on,” recalled Joe (who has
since passed away). “We flew approximately
90 minutes from England before crossing the
Normandy Peninsula. Flying at approximately
700 feet the formation started taking AA and
ground fire. Several of our planes were hit and
exploded or crashed. We got the stand-up and
hook-up, red light, green light and jumped at
approximately 400 feet directly over the town
of Saint-Côme-du-Mont.” Under fire from a
machine gun located in the church tower he
landed on the church and slid feet first down
it’s high-pitched roof but somehow managed to
check his fall. A barn was burning some
distance away at Tammerville, lighting up the
area, and the Germans had now turned their
fire in its direction. Alone, Joe decided to head
west back down the line of flight where he
hoped to locate other members of his stick.
During the hours before daybreak he located
and attempted to destroy a mobile generator
near the center of town and using hand
grenades attacked a group of Germans who
were gathering nearby. Whilst trying to find a
safe way out of the town he crawled through a
hedgerow and stumbled into a well-defended
German MG42 position and was surrounded
by enemy paratroopers and taken prisoner.
Faking a back injury, two of the enemy
soldiers took him to an aid station in the town
recently established and run by his battalion
surgeon Dr Stanley Morgan, who had also
been captured by the Germans. After a failed
escape attempt he was marched to a nearby
prisoner-holding area before being taken to a
German underground HQ in an apple orchard
south of Saint-Côme for interrogation.
Pfc. Manuel M. “Manny” BARRIOS
“I” Company, 506th PIR
101st Airborne Division
Flying into Normandy on D-Day, twentytwo year old Manny was on Joe Beyrle’s
plane and landed in a garden on the eastern
edge of Saint-Côme-du-Mont. Alone and
separated from the rest of the stick he spent
the next three days fighting for survival
until being injured by allied shellfire
(ironically on his 23rd birthday). Seriously
wounded by shrapnel, Manny encouraged
a passing German doctor (at gunpoint) to
treat him. His ordeal came to an end after
being discovered by soldiers from the 101st
as they pushed forward into Saint-Côme.
He was evacuated back to England by
hospital ship around June 10th and returned
to active duty six months later at Bastogne.
Manny lives in Whittier, California where
he is an active member of the 101st
Southern California Chapter.
Sgt. Ralph BENNETT
“H” Company, 506th PIR
101st Airborne Division
As a 60mm mortar sergeant, Ralph
Bennett’s job in Normandy was to provide
direct fire support to 3rd platoon H
Company. He was among the lucky few
who landed on drop zone D and actually
made it to the road bridge at Brévands.
From first light on June 6th his team played
a vital defensive role until the bridge was
partially destroyed by an allied air attack
on D +1. Ralph took part in the horrific
battle of ‘bloody gully’ on June 13th when
the German 6th Parachute Regiment
together with the 17th SS began a fearsome
but unsuccessful counter attack on
Carentan. After promotion to 3rd platoon
sergeant Ralph went on to win a Silver Star
in Holland and played an active part in the
defence of Bastogne. In 1945 he returned
to the UK and married his English
sweetheart June Earl.
Ralph lives in Highland, Michigan with
June and their four children.
Pvt. William P. “Bill” GALBRAITH
“I” Company, 506th PIR,
101st Airborne Division
Machine gunner Bill Galbraith landed on
the southwestern edge of drop zone D and
begrudgingly joined with the 501 for the
attack on the La Barquette locks. He
returned to 3/506 on the evening of 8th
June only to find that they had been totally
decimated. He also fought at ‘bloody
gully’ on June 13th and recalls, “I don’t
think there were more than 28 of us left in
I Co after the battle”. While on leave after
Normandy Bill met and fell in love with
Anna. After being promoted and
transferred to S3 (Bn Planning &
Operations) Bill’s war ended in Holland
when on September 18th he was seriously
wounded while entering the outskirts of
Eindhoven by German artillery. After
spending three years in hospital Bill finally
married Anna in 1948 - just after
Christmas. Bill now lives in Murrieta,
California with Anna and their nine
children.