"Men, I am not a religious man and I don't know your feelings in this matter, but I am going to ask you to pray with me for the success of the mission before us. And while we pray, let us get on our knees and not look down but up with faces raised to the sky so that we can see God and ask his blessing in what we are about to do.
"God almighty, in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if You will, use us as Your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world.
"We do not know or seek what our fate will be. We ask only this, that if die we must, that we die as men would die, without complaining, without pleading and safe in the feeling that we have done our best for what we believed was right.
"Oh Lord, protect our loved ones and be near us in the fire ahead and with us now as we pray to you."
Sadly, within hours, the orator himself was dead; a cruel twist of fate meant his feet never touched French soil. Lt Col Robert L Wolverton, commanding officer of 3rd Bn 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne, was killed suspended by his parachute from an apple tree in an orchard just north of the hamlet of St Côme du Mont.
His words, along with the subsequent actions of his men, and many thousands of others, will live on forever. We are lucky a photographer was based at Exeter, and we are able to see the warrior before his final flight.
June 4th 1944 - "Set up" photo with Lt Alex Bobuck, Bn Adjutant:
The night itself; 5th Jun 1944 (Wolverton centre):
People Eating Tasty Animals.
