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"A" I was the lead jumpmaster in a flight of about fifty C-47
aircraft. The Regimental Commander (George V. Millette) had
arranged the loading so that he and myself had a regimented
staff organization in our planes. He had the S-l officer - I
had the senior S-l NCO; I had the S-2 officer - he had the senior
S-2 NCO, etc. My plane load included in addition, the Regimental
Surgeon (Major George Vollmar) and the regimental chaplain (Father
Verrett). Since this flight was our first for record, I stayed
near the door (which had been removed) and attempted to keep the
stick informed of our flight. As we passed over the convey, over
the sub (which was used as a check point), and finally over the
coast of France, I would yell this information back into the plane.
Just after reaching France, I told the men to get their Mae Wests
off, remove their blankets and get ready to jump. No one made a
move so I walked to the first man and found him sound asleep;
checked the others and found the whole plane load sound asleep.
For a moment I was quite upset — my apprehension about the group's
being nervous was completely unfounded.