It was the most powerful armada ever assembled, and it conducted the greatest amphibious assault in human history. The Allied invaders, bearing the arms, the hopes and the prayers of freedom, were carried across the English Channel by more than 5,300 vessels and nearly 11,000 aircraft. France, along with much of the rest of Europe, had fallen under Adolf HitlerвЂ™s shadow during the darkest months of World War II.

Most of them landed under fire on five beaches along the Normandy coast. During the next 24 hours, 175,000 soldiers, drawn mostly from the United States, Britain, Canada and France, along with 50,000 battle vehicles of all kinds, invaded Nazi-occupied France. Murphy, a pathfinder with the 82nd Airborne, and scores like him set up radar beacons and signal lights to guide hundreds of C-47s carrying thousands of paratroopers into the fields of Normandy. If there was someone under the tree, whoever it was did not shoot, did not make a sound. He put his other hand to his lips to signal silence. Accidentally, he also sliced off his ammunition pouch. He reached into his boot, pulled out the trench knife and cut himself out of his straps. He bent forward, tucked his knees up to his chest and folded his arms over them. Over the engine noise, his commanding officer shouted: вЂњHook up!вЂќДЄt 300 feet, the pilot hit the green light and yelled: вЂњLetвЂ™s go!вЂќ Murphy, face blackened, carrying his Thompson submachine gun, 300 rounds of ammunition, a six-inch boot knife, a switchblade and a 40-pound radar, was the third man out the door. In the moonlight, through the open door, he could see the coastline.

The pathfinder movie 1994