D-Day: The 82nd Airborne's Battle for Normandy | Animated Documentary

The untold story of how six thousand scattered paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division fought to secure Utah Beach's western flank — D-Day, June 6–9, 1944. ───────────────────────────────────── CHAPTERS ───────────────────────────────────── 00:00:00 The Plan 00:01:03 505th Misdrops on Sainte-Mère-Église 00:06:31 Silent Assault on Sainte-Mère-Église 00:08:16 Assault on La Fière Bridge 00:09:40 Timmes' Orchard 00:14:40 Assault at Chef-du-Pont 00:16:10 Hill 30 00:17:20 Holding at Neuville 00:22:07 German Counterattack 00:28:33 The Submerged Road 00:30:40 DeGlopper's Last Stand 00:33:49 Assault Across the Causeway 00:37:41 Mission Complete ───────────────────────────────────── SOURCES & FURTHER READING ───────────────────────────────────── Primary Sources • S.L.A. Marshall — Night Drop (1962). Interviews conducted days after the battle with participants still in the field. • Wayne Pierce — Let's Go! (1997). First-hand account; Pierce commanded Company C, 1/325th GIR. • Lt. John J. Dolan — Letter to General Gavin, March 15, 1959. Gavin validated it as "accurate in every detail." • Lt. John Marr — Oral history (La Fière crossing and submerged road route). • Marcus Heim — First-hand account (tank battle at La Fière, D-Day). • Keith Nightingale — The Human Face of D-Day (2023). • 82nd Airborne Division After Action Reports, June 1944. • 746th Tank Battalion After Action Reports. • Medal of Honor citation: PFC Charles N. DeGlopper. • Distinguished Service Cross citations (multiple recipients, La Fière and Chef-du-Pont actions). Memoirs • General James M. Gavin — On to Berlin (1978). • General Matthew B. Ridgway — Soldier (1956). Secondary Sources • Cornelius Ryan — Research papers (referenced in secondary literature on the Normandy airborne operations). • National Archives — 325th Glider Infantry Regiment unit records. ───────────────────────────────────── Where sources conflict, this documentary follows the account closest to the events. If you spot an error, drop it in the comments — I read them all.