Five facts about the 101st Airborne Division's key role in the D-Day invasion of Normandy

You probably know the D-Day invasion of Normandy shaped the course of not only World War II, but of the entire western world, ultimately helping ensure an Allied victory in the deadliest conflict in human history. 

What you may not know is the pivotal role Fort Campbell's storied 101st Airborne Division played in that operation on that fateful day 75 years ago.

Here are five fascinating facts about the 101st Airborne's most famous "Rendezvous with Destiny."

First combat mission for the 101st

The D-Day invasion into Normandy marked the first time the 101st Airborne Division was deployed into combat. 

"It was baptism by fire," said Fort Campbell's historian of the Don F. Pratt Museum, John O'Brien.

As Allied forces prepared for the invasion with the intentions of opening up a second western front, they recognized the need to find a way past the fortifications built up by Axis forces along the coastline, also known as the Atlantic Wall. 

"All of the coast of Europe had been fortified with landmines, underwater obstacles, concrete artillery positions, machine gun nests, wire obstacles, poles called Rommel's asparagus. There were millions of mines and other obstacles. It was called Fortress Europe," explained O'Brien.

To be successful, Allied forces needed a way to get past those obstacles.

"Our big story is vertical envelopment - being able to go over obstacles instead of going through them," said O'Brien. "The use of airborne forces would allow you to be able to get over the Atlantic Wall. The soldiers said at the time that Hitler built a fortress, but he forgot to put a roof on it. So when the plan began, a large number of airborne forces were built up in order to breach Fortress Europe."

Those forces included the 101st Airborne Division.

Normandy mission had setbacks

The 101st Airborne's mission, while deemed a success, did not go according to plan. 

The primary mission of the 101st was to aid the 4th Infantry Division's ability to come ashore on Utah Beach by dropping in behind enemy lines in the dark of night and killing and disorienting the German soldiers there. 

"They killed the Germans wherever they could find them, and it so confused the Germans that they were unable to mount a counter attack against the troops coming ashore," said O'Brien. 

But while the 6,600 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne were successful in being the first to breach the Atlantic Wall, not all of them landed on target. Historians say about 1,500 of the paratroopers landed miles outside their target zone and were captured or killed by the enemy.

Even those who landed on target were scattered for miles, with no way to quickly rally up with their units to fight. However, the troops had been trained to carry on with their mission by linking up with whomever they could find to execute their mission.

"This night, (Division Commander) General Maxwell Taylor was in control of nothing. This was just highly trained and well-briefed soldiers violently executing what they knew to be the right thing to do," said O'Brien. "They made it up as they went."

Despite any setbacks, the 101st Airborne's efforts paid off big for the American forces, which sustained only 197 casualties on Utah Beach, compared with the 2,500 casualties on nearby Omaha Beach.

Cricket's call saved lives

A child's toy called a cricket became a key piece of gear issued to all American paratroopers in the D-Day invasion so they communicate without words once behind enemy lines. 

Crickets were small, hand-held children's toys that made a distinct clicking noise that the paratroopers could use to identify each other in the dark without having to speak. 

"It saved lives," said 101st Division Historian LT Dan Herbster, who noted examples of paratroopers who crawled away undetected from enemy forces thanks to their use of the cricket as a password system, instead of using English language passwords.

The ace in the hole

Once daylight broke, troops were able to identify their units by using a visual cue inspired by a deck of cards emblazoned on their helmets.

"About a week before the invasion, the Division Commander got together with the four Regimental Commanders, and he had a deck of cards and pulled out four of them, and each Regimental Commander picked a card," said O'Brien.

As a result, each of the four regiments became represented by one of the four suits of cards, including the club, heart, spade and diamond. Those symbols were painted onto their helmets, to allow for easy identification by fellow paratroopers.

Some of those symbols remain in use today by Brigade Combat Teams in the 101st Airborne Division.

A bond forged in blood

The 101st Airborne Division maintains a close relationship with the nearby French town of Carentan, which they liberated in the days following D-Day.

Townspeople in Carentan still proudly display the "Screaming Eagle" throughout town, and welcome visits from 101st soldiers and veterans. For the 75th anniversary, the town is playing host to a contingent of about 85 members of the 101st Airborne Division, along with the many veterans back to mark the anniversary.

Hopkinsville, Kentucky, is now sister cities with Carentan.

The mayor of Carentan also recently visited the Pratt Museum at Fort Campbell, and posed for a picture with the iconic image of a Nazi flag held by 101st paratrooper James Flanagan, who "liberated" it from an enemy command post.

That photo became one of the most widely distributed newspaper photos from the events of D-Day. The flag, now known as the Flanagan flag, was donated to the Pratt Museum years later by Flanagan.

Reach Jennifer Babich at 931-245-0742 or by email at jbabich@gannett.com. To support her work, consider signing up for a digital subscription at TheLeafChronicle.com.