Storming Juno

Going to Normandy.

Army Intel is only two out of five of us

are going to make it off this beach.

Freedom!

Let us launch!

They're gonna die without us!

Fire!

Move out! Don't stop for anything!

We're the first unit to go in.

One hundred and ten men of "C" company.

First Canadian Parachute battalion.

In training we thought we were the best!

Way tougher than the infantry.

But this is going to be our first time in combat,

our first chance to do our part.

June, 1944.

The world's been at war for almost five years.

Hitler's war machine has killed millions

and Europe is living under Nazi rule.

But that's about to change.

After two years of planning and training, this is it!

"D-Day"!

The plan is to launch a massive surprise attack

against Hitler's fortress Europe.

It's a do or die operation.

We'd either set the stage for the defeat of Hitler,

or get slaughtered and pushed back into the sea.

The beaches are code-named;

'Sword', 'Gold,' 'Utah', 'Omaha'.

Us Canadians?

We have one of the most heavily defended beaches on the line.

It's called Juno.

This is my story.

This is our story.

What's wrong?

I don't mind jumping. I, just can't stand looking.

Well switch with me then.

We were going to be dropped deep into Nazi occupied France.

Nine hours before the rest of the invasion forces

even hit the beaches.

Jeez-Louise Hartigan, what you got in there?

A few extra mortars.

You're gonna drop like a rock.

We were the tip of the spear.

Whoo!

Best seat in the house here!

Almost seven thousand ships stretched out

across the English Channel.

About a hundred and sixty thousand men.

'D Day', the largest sea-born invasion in history.

Holy Jesus!

And me a kid from Sydney, Nova Scotia, way out in front.

We'd been stuck on this ship for three days.

Seasick, couldn't sleep, couldn't eat.

But the men were holding up.

Seventh Platoon.

My Platoon!

Mostly prairie boys from Saskatchewan.

Hunters.

Trappers.

Indians.

A lot of farm boys.

We looked out for one another.

Some joined for adventure, some out of duty.

Others were just plain hungry

and the Army paid a dollar a day.

We'd been chosen to lead

the first wave of the beach assault. Alright, enough, enough. Alright, anyone else?

It was going to be our first time in combat.

Cutler, you in you little woman?

I got five bucks on Apple.

Alright.

We were young.

Luis Brunning was only fifteen when he joined.

We called him 'Apple'.

Snake eyes! Snakes eyes!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's this?

Ooohhh? From your girl? What?

What, you have a girlfriend!

Oooh. Who is she?

No one.

What's her name? C'mon!

What does she look like?

Who is she? Who is she?

Look, look.

C'mon look, it's from my mother.

Ma-ma!

Did he just say from my mother? Did he just say from my mother?

Aw.

Apple's mommy loves him.

What's it say? What's it say?

Nuthin.

Aw c'mon, what's it say? Let me see.

Come on leave him alone.

Well, what it's say?

It says "God Keep Him Safe."

Well God, let him roll sevens?

Amen.

Make me some money!

Nice!

Now I get to roll.

Hey, hey roll em up again, again, let's go!

What, something I said?

I joined the Army, not the god-damned Navy!

Me?

I was in the Army long before this war.

Signed up in Montreal, Quebec, just seventeen years old.

I didn't want to be no hero, just stay out of the poorhouse.

I'm what you call a P.S.. Permanent Soldier.

My wife said it stood for "permanently stupid".

My ex-wife tell the truth.

Silverberg! What are you doing?

Joining the United Church?

Good Jewish boy like you?

Look. It's my mother's orders.

Turn the 'J' to a 'U'.

Just in case we get taken prisoner.

No one's going to take us prisoner.

We're going all the way to Paris!

I'll find you all a nice Mademoiselle.

You'll see.

Where you goin?

Probably the only dry place

on this whole Goddamned military vessel!

Don't puke in the tank McGinnis!

Yeah, don't worry Silver, I got nuthin left!

Our tank is a top secret weapon.

Designed just for 'D-Day'.

It can launch directly into the sea.

They're called a duplex drive.

You take a Sherman tank, and an inflatable canvas screen,

waterproof the hull, connect propellers to the driveshaft.

And viola, you've got a thirty-two ton floating tank.

And let's you drive it out of the sea.

A big surprise for the Germans.

That's the way to travel.

First class!

Final checks!

We were going in, disguised as a routine bombing run.

That's why we were packed into these old bombers

like sardines.

Final checks.

Be bloody careful, no accidents, please!

The drop was behind enemy lines.

Fifteen miles from the coast

where the main invasion force would land.

We'd be on our own for days.

So we loaded ourselves down with extra grenades.

Mortar rounds, you name it.

Hartigan!

Open the bloody hatch.

There was France. From five hundred feet.

At two hundred miles per hour.

Red up, hook up!

The red light was the warning.

Two minutes till the green light.

Two minutes before all of us,

one hundred and ten men of 'C' Company

would jump straight into... God knows what?

Remember we've got fifteen seconds to clear this place,

so move fast!

Hartigan, spot me a cigarette would ya?

Hit the ground and move!

What? Now?

We have, five minutes to make it to the rally point.

I don't mean for now, I mean for later.

You do not make it? You're on your own!

Here, take the whole god-damned pack!

Good luck!

I tried not to think about being shot on the drop.

Or landing on a tree.

Or drowning in the flooded fields below.

We knew we were heading towards the coast.

But the exact location of our landing was kept secret.

Most bets were on Calle .

Some thought Holland, even Germany itself.

We're goin to Normandy.

Did anyone win the bet?

No sir.

Good, let's hope the Jerrie's are even more surprised.

The Americans have 'Utah', and 'Omaha'.

Brits, 'Gold', and 'Sword'.

The Canadian beach, 'Juno' Beach, it's here,

and our sector, 'Nan Green', is here.

Our target, is actually a little fishing village called

'Courseulles-sur-Mer'.

Everything else just as we trained.

MG-42's, 55's, 75's and the 88.

The heaviest position on the beach and it is all ours!

The Germans had four years to turn the coast of France

into a concrete fortress.

Hundreds of miles of bunkers, heavy guns barbed wire, mines.

According to Army Intelligence, our beach,

Juno Beach was manned by eight thousand German soldiers

from the seven hundred and sixteenth division.

It was one of the most heavily fortified sectors

of Hitler's Atlantic Wall.

Get past the first fifteen minutes boys,

we're gonna be okay.

Alright?