On the night of the 5th of June 1944, a parachute regiment was given a vital objective as their part in the invasion. Able Company of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, was ordered to parachute into France, ahead of the  invasion and take the vital La Fiere bridge over the Merderet River.
Able Company, along with their British counterpart, was to take and hold two bridges connecting the Normandy beachheads with the rest of the countryside.
Able Company attacked the Germans midmorning and by nightfall, had suffered 50 per cent casualties. One particular platoon was badly decimated and asked their Company Commander, Lt. John “Red Dog” Dolan, for orders.
Dolan’s order came back, “We hold here. There is no better place to die.”
They held and did their part. German tanks and troop reinforcements might have pushed the Allied invasion forces back into the sea.