Captain Harold Sperber served in World War II as a Pathfinder co-pilot. Pathfinders were small paratrooper groups that were sent to mark landing zones ahead of major paratrooper missions. Their work helped insure the success of the drop, but it was incredibly dangerous because they flew in very small numbers, very low to the ground (to avoid radar), and had no backup chutes.
In this episode, Sperber describes the mission he had on the night of June 5th, 1944, the day before the D-Day. Sperber and the rest of the pathfinders flew over Normandy and were hit, forcing them to retreat back to the English channel. They narrowly avoided crash landing and freezing to death in the cold waters.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lt. Col. Fred Wellman: Survivor’s Guilt as a Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot in Iraq
Col. Charles Bussey: Christmas in Korea
Sir Ludovic Kennedy: Chasing the Bismarck
A Message to Our Listeners
Capt. Joseph K. Taussig Jr: The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Joseph Lockard: The Hours Before the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Lt. Col. Thomas D. Ferran III: Sniping in Vietnam, Part II
Lt. Col. Thomas D. Ferran III: Sniping in Vietnam Part I
Lt. Col. Amy McGrath: The First Female Marine to Fly a Combat Mission in an F-18
James E.T. Hopkins: WWII Combat Surgeon in Merrill’s Marauders
Kris Goldsmith: The Horrific Documentation of Death
Col. Logan E. Weston: The Fightin’ Preacher and Merrill’s Marauders in WWII
Master Sergeant Michael ‘Top’ Washington: Counterintelligence in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan
Lt. Col. Milt Shalinsky: Becoming a POW in Nazi Germany
Col. Kent Harbaugh: Phantom Pilot in Vietnam
Bonus: Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter’s Memorial Day Speech
Sgt. 1st Class Elana Duffy: Counterintelligence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Part II
Sgt. 1st Class Elana Duffy: Counterintelligence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Part I
Col. Bill Gara: Leading the First Engineer Battalion in World War II, Part II
Col. Bill Gara: Leading the First Engineer Battalion in World War II, Part I
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Recruiting Future with Matt Alder
Conflicted: A History Podcast
This American President
Professional Book Nerds
FIVE MINUTE NEWS