Sainte-Mère-Église Was The First Village In Normandy Liberated By The United States Army On D-Day, June 6, 1944. Editorial Photo

Sainte-Mère-Église was the first village in Normandy liberated by the United States Army on D-Day, June 6, 1944. On the night before D-Day American soldiers of the 82nd Airborne parachuted into the area west of Sainte-Mère-Église in successive waves. Private John Marvin Steele was the American paratrooper who landed on the pinnacle of the church tower in Sainte-Mère-Église.