The Mission

MISSION BRIEFING
June 6th, 1944:

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It's 2:00am. A US paratrooper rides aboard a 316th Troop Carrier Squadron C-47 "Dakota." Shaking in his boots, nervous of the events that lay ahead of him, the trooper mutters "37, Whiskey 7" repetitively. He had been assigned to look for those numbers the previous night, they represented the plane he was to ride into hell and jump out of. As though searching for some sanity and peace of mind, his muttering calmed his nerves. "Stand Up, Hook Up!" rattled the troop's trance, and they were all soon up and out. This was D-Day.

70 years after the "Great Crusade" to destroy Hitler's Atlantic Wall, the National Warplane Museum intends to re-kindle the history of the Normandy Invasion. Located in Geneseo, New York, the museum is a proud owner of a 1943 Douglas C-47A "Dakota." This is no average plane, however, as the NWM's C-47 actually served on D-Day, dropping paratroopers over St. Mere-Eglise, France. The lead plane of the 2nd wave over France, Geneseo's C-47 wore the numbers W7/37, and she still appears that way today.

The National Warplane Museum intends to travel to Normandy, France for the 2014 D-Day Reunion. To commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the brave Allied Assault into Nazi-Fortress Europe, "Whiskey 7" will actually re-enact the 2:00am paratroop jump. The "Liberty Jump Team," friends of the Warplane Museum, will jump out of "Whiskey 7" and complete, in essence, a real-life time machine. 

Mike Ingrisano, a life-long museum member, was a member of the 316th Troop Carrier Squadron. He served as a radio operator to the C-47 that flew wingman to our "Whiskey Seven"/37 on D-Day. Small world, to say the least. Author of "Valor Without Arms," Mike passed away last winter. However, his dream remains. He always wanted to see "Whiskey Seven" return to Normandy, France, just one more time.