305th Troop Carrier Squadron navigator, Bill Silberkleit, was the navigator aboard the Group's lead C-47 Skytrain aircraft on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The 305th TCS was one of four flying squadrons assigned to the 442nd Troop Carrier Group whose D-Day mission was to drop paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne near St. Mere Eglise. The 442nd TCG was the World War II predecessor of the 442nd Fighter Wing, an Air Force Reserve Command A-10 Thunderbolt II unit based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. (Photo courtesy of the Herky Barbour estate)