Screaming Eagles Over Normandy

At 2200 hours on June 5, 1944, 13,400 paratroopers of the United States 82^nd and 101^st Airborne Divisions began loading into 822 C-47 Dakota transport planes prior to taking off for Normandy and the invasion of Occupied France. Each paratrooper was loaded down with equipment to the extent that many needed assistance when climbing the short ladder into the C-47’s. Many men carried more than the usual variety of supplies and equipment for fear they might be without something they could use. Once seated inside the C-47’s, the “All Americans” of the 82^nd and “Screaming Eagles” of the 101^st made themselves as comfortable as possible for the two-plus hour flight over the English Channel and the Cotentin Peninsula. For the majority of the paratroopers, the flight was uneventful until the C-47’s passed over the Channel Islands just off the coast of France. German antiaircraft batteries on the Islands fired at the stream of transports rumbling over head. This was also the point at which the red jumplight went on in the aircraft, signifying it was time to “Stand Up and Hook Up.”. Paratroopers in each C-47 rose and hooked their static lines to the cable running the length of the fuselage. Next came the call “Sound off for equipment check.” Each man checked his gear and what he could see of the gear on the man in front of him. From this point on, the “stick” of paratroopers awaited the green jumplight which would send them hurtling out into the dark night sky and down to Nazi-occupied Europe. As the armada of transports reached the Cotentin coastline, they ran into a thick cloud bank which caused incredible confusion among the transports. Fearful of a midair collision with one of the hundreds of other aircraft in the zero-visibility night sky, the C-47 pilots separated from the tight formations they had been flying in. As each plane emerged from the cloud bank, many realized they were now off course and suddenly in a different world. A bright moon shone on them as they exited the clouds, and down below in the Norman countryside, hundreds of machine gun tracers and flak shells rose to meet them. The time was shortly after 0100, June 6, 1944, D-Day. It is this point in time that is portrayed in the art print “Tonight Is The Night Of Nights” by Dan Zoernig. A paratrooper of the 101^st Airborne’s Easy Company stands at the door of his C-47, awaiting the green light to jump. Readers and viewers of Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers will notice that the C-47 in the foreground has the number “67” stenciled on the side…the number of the plane in which Easy Company’s Lt. Richard Winters was the jumpmaster.

The matted print measures 24” x 20”. The optional frame is solid wood with a cherry finish (other colors are available…contact us for info). Please click on the Framing Info tab to read about how we frame our artwork. Price includes shipping in the continental United States. The print is double-matted with a medium gray-blue mat on top, and a medium gray-green mat underneath. Below the print are three patches that are relevant to the subject.

A Ninth US Army Air Force patch represents the crews of the C-47’s who carried the paratroopers that night. The Screaming Eagles patch represents the paratroopers of the 101^st Airborne, while the “Currahee” patch represents the men of the 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of which Easy Company was a part of. Like many of Framing History’s framed artworks, this piece is a tribute to the accomplishments, sacrifices and courage of the generation of Americans who freed the world from tyranny and oppression.