Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Maj. Michael Frank, executive officer and full-time administrative officer,...... read more read more
The U.S. involvement in World War II saw heavy use of National Guard troops fighting on nearly every battlefront. Many of the Guardsmen had already been in an Active-Duty status for more than a year preparing for the inevitable. On June 6, 1944, the inevitable arrived with the invasion of Normandy, known as D-Day.
While Colorado National Guard troops were not present at the Normandy invasion on D-Day, their significant accomplishments during the war include fighting at Anzio during the Italian Campaign in January 1944 and liberating thousands of persecuted Jews at the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945.
In honor of those who fought and died, U.S. Army Maj. Michael Frank and Col. Todd Stansbury, both serving in the Colorado Army National Guard, participated in a historic para-jump over Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
“We were both invited to jump with an organization called the Round Canopy Parachute Team-USA,” Frank said. It’s a way “to increase awareness and educate the public about the sacrifices and heroism of allied paratroopers from WWII onward.”
Frank serves as the executive officer and full-time administrative officer for the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment at Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado. He is also a UH-60 Black Hawk and LUH-72 Lakota helicopter aviator. He had never jumped prior to this commemoration event. He has 17 years of active military service in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the Army National Guard. He has been a member of the Colorado National Guard since 2012.
To prepare for the jump, Frank attended a jump qualification course in Palatka, Florida, that aligns with the U.S. Army parachute school.
“We executed one day of ground training, and then two days of jumps to qualify,” he said. “I knew this opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I had to seize.”
Among his motives for the jump, Frank wanted to honor his grandfather, Louis Frank, who served in the Army in WWII. He arrived in France soon after the D-Day invasion and was severely wounded in August 1944. Due to his injuries, he was sent home stateside where he met and married Frank’s grandmother, one of his nurses who cared for him.
“To be able to honor my grandfather on these jumps was an incredible blessing,” Frank said. “This experience meant a lot to me personally to be able to pay my respects and pay homage to the men and women who served before us, many who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
For Frank, the jump was not void of emotion.
“I was nervous,” he said. “I was manifested to be the first one out the door on my lift, on my jump on June 5th, which was an absolutely incredible experience for which I will be forever grateful.”
Not only was Frank the first to jump that day, but his position historically also put him first into combat.
“I jumped out of the C-47 that led the D-Day invasion, That’s All Brother,” Frank said. “Not only were we jumping onto hallowed ground, but we were also jumping from some of the same airplanes that were in the D-Day invasion.”
Frank and Stansbury both jumped again June 7, this time from Placid Lassie, another aircraft that had dropped troops during the invasion 80 years prior.
“Without a doubt, commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Frank said. “One thing that I am most thankful for is that we were able to bring our children so that they could witness this event.”
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2024 16:54 |
| Story ID: | 477142 |
| Location: | COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Colorado Guard Soldiers commemorate D-Day with historic Normandy jump, by SFC Joseph VonNida, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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