11/15/2025
On the night of June 6, 1944, paratrooper John Steele found himself in one of D-Day’s most extraordinary moments. As his parachute drifted over the town of Sainte-Mère-Église in Normandy, he was blown off course and snagged on the church steeple. Suspended high above the fighting, Steele stayed absolutely still for nearly two hours, hoping the Germans below would mistake him for dead.
Steele was part of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division—one of the first units sent behind enemy lines to secure strategic locations for the Allied invasion. But strong winds, scattered drops, and heavy German resistance turned the mission into chaos, leaving many paratroopers exposed as they landed right in the middle of the town square.
Steele’s unintended perch on the church may have been the only thing that saved him. Wounded by shrapnel and unable to free himself, he watched the battle unfold beneath him. German troops eventually discovered him, cut him down, and took him prisoner. Despite his injuries, Steele managed to escape and make his way back to Allied forces.
Sainte-Mère-Église would become the first town in France liberated on D-Day, and Steele’s ordeal became one of its most iconic stories. Today, a mannequin still hangs from that same steeple—a striking memorial to his courage, survival, and the extraordinary events of that historic night.
