The June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy involved the largest use of airborne troops up to that time. Paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the British 6th Airborne Division, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, and other attached Allied units took part in the assault. Over 13,000 paratroopers were flown from bases in southern England to France’s Cotentin Peninsula aboard 1,432 C-47 Dakota airplanes. An additional 3,937 glider infantry with weapons, medical, and signal units followed in 500 gliders to reinforce the paratroopers. The parachute troops were assigned the most difficult task: a night jump behind enemy lines five hours before the coastal landings.
The specific missions of the 82nd and 101st divisions were to block approaches into Utah Beach, to capture the beaches’ causeway exits and to establish Douve River crossings at Carentan to enable the merging of the two American beachheads.
Low clouds, high winds, and German anti-aircraft fire scattered the paratrooper landings as far as twenty kilometers from their target zones. Despite confusion, disorganization and delay, the airborne soldiers eventually fulfilled their missions. The D-Day cost was high. The 82nd Airborne Division suffered 156 killed, 347 wounded, and 756 missing. In the 101st Airborne Division, the sacrifice was 182 killed, 557 wounded, and 501 missing.
Fifty-one PA airborne soldiers perished on D-Day. Volunteers with the non-profit Stories Behind the Stars (www.storiesbehindthestars.org) have written memorials to preserve the memory of each of them. Franklin County was home to one of the fallen paratroopers: PVT Covert J. Morris.
Covert Johnson Morris was born on January 27, 1924 in Franklin County, PA to David E. and Metta Jane Morris. His father was a gas company foreman. Morris had two younger sisters and two brothers (one older and one younger). He completed three years at Waynesburg High School, Waynesburg, PA and worked for Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp. in Aliquippa, PA.
Morris registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Waynesburg, PA and enlisted in the Army on February 22, 1943 in Pittsburgh, PA as a Private in the infantry. He volunteered for paratrooper training which he completed in September 1943. Morris was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 82d Airborne Division.
The 508th PIR was activated on October 20, 1942 at Camp Blanding, FL and moved to Camp Mackall, NC where they trained from January to December 1943. Morris joined his company at Camp Mackall. On December 28, 1943, the 508th PIR sailed from New York City on the US Army Transport James Parker and arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland on January 8, 1944. After additional training in Portstewart, the regiment was moved by ship to Glasgow, Scotland and then by train on March 13, 1944 to Nottinghamshire, England where they became part of the 82nd Airborne Division.
The 508th PIR left England from two airfields on June 5, 1944 for the assault across the English Channel. The 508th PIR was dropped into Normandy from 0208-0220 on June 6, 1944. They were dropped off target all over the peninsula because of bad weather and enemy anti-aircraft fire. Thirty-six paratroopers drowned in the swollen rivers in the area when they were dropped. Heavy enemy small arms fire all along the Drop Zone areas made organization very difficult. The immediate objectives of the 508th PIR were to capture Sainte-Mere-Eglise, secure crossings at the Merderet River near La Fiere and establish a defensive line.
Morris was killed in action on June 6, 1944 during a parachute mission on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France. On D-Day, the 508th PIR suffered 321 killed in action, 660 wounded and 98 missing in action. Morris’ unidentified remains were initially buried as “X-61” at Temporary Cemetery #3508, the Blosville Cemetery, Carentan, France. He was identified in 1945-46 and was repatriated to the US. Morris was buried at the Greene County Memorial Park in Waynesburg, PA in late March 1949. Morris posthumously was awarded the Purple Heart.
Through June 30 of Operation Overlord, the 82nd Airborne Division sustained 4,480 casualties (457 killed, 1,440 wounded, 2,583 missing). The toll on the 101st Airborne Division was 4,670 casualties (546 killed, 2,217 wounded, 1,907 missing). The total German casualties during the campaign were nearly 21,300.
Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free on the internet and via smart phone app at gravesites and cenotaphs. The non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania. To volunteer or to get more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.
