The route the 442nd Troop Carrier Group traversed into Normandy, France, during the early morning hours of June 6, 1944 took them west of the Cherbourg peninsula and over the Channel Islands to approach their designated drop zone near St. Mere Eglise. Aboard the 442nd's 45 C-47 Skytrain aircraft were paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne. The 442nd TCG was the World War II predecessor of the 442nd Fighter Wing. (Graphic by Master Sgt. Bill Huntington)