Part 2: Fore ’78 Joins Grads, WW11 Veterans for Commemorative Parachute Jumps
By Erika Norton, WPAOG Senior Multimedia Journalist
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series sharing West Point graduates’ personal experiences of the D-Day 80th anniversary events in Normandy, France.
In June 2024, LTC (R) Hank R. Fore ’78 joined other members of the Long Gray Line, along with veterans from around the globe in honoring the fallen during the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. This anniversary is likely the last major anniversary that World War II veterans will still be able to attend. In honor of this momentous occasion and those that lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy, several West Point graduates did a static-line parachute jump out of a World War II-era C-47.
Fore did two commemorative jumps. He even had the privilege to meet three D-Day veterans, spontaneously pinning them with Airborne Wings and making them honorary paratroopers.
WPAOG asked Fore about this once in a lifetime trip:
LTC (R) Hank R. Fore ’78
Q: What did you do on the trip?
A: My main activities for the Normandy 80th D-Day Anniversary consisted of two Airborne Commemorative Jumps into the Batterie de Azeville and Mont St. Michel France on June 5 and June 7 respectively. We jumped from C-47 Dakota Aircraft “Drop ‘Em Out” and “That’s All Brother” that actually participated in the D-Day invasion on June 5-6, 1944. I participated as a member of the Team America Freedom (TAF) under the Round Canopy Parachute Team (RCPT-USA). The jumps were full reenactments of the 1944 operations in period jump uniforms of the 82nd or the 101st Airborne Divisions.
My wife and I spent June 6, 2024 in the historic 82nd Airborne town of Saint Mere Eglise where John Steele landed on the Church steeple of which many movies were made. We dressed up in 1944 period dress for the entire day. We visited Camp Geronimo and most of the major military attractions of the town and watched the D-Day Ceremonies on the big screen in the town square. There were thousands of French and British in period uniforms and vehicles. It was time warping back 80 years.
We did a 5:40 am sunrise on Utah Beach, which was spectacular and peaceful. Additionally, we visited Omaha Beach. the American Normandy Cemetery and several famous battle sites including Iron Mike at the La Fiere bridge and the Manor.
Q: Why did I want to go on the trip?
A: I was invited to go to Normandy a couple years ago by a few friends at the Army Navy game in Philadelphia. Yes, we beat Navy that year. These close friends are some of the original Horse Soldiers of ODA 595 of the movie “12 Strong” fame. They had participated in the 75th D-Day anniversary jump operations and had planned to do it again in 2024 for the 80th. They knew I was an airborne qualified Master Parachutist and wanted me to jump with them on the 80th D-Day Heroes Remember Commemoration in France. I had the good fortune to attend the 50th Anniversary 30 years earlier as a spectator when I was stationed in Germany at the time. I was thrilled to accept for a number of reasons. First and foremost, was to honor those servicemen and women that made immeasurable sacrifices in WWII to secure the freedoms we enjoy today. The other reason was to honor my two uncles that came through the beaches post D-Day and fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Lenue Fore served in the All African Tank Battalion under Patton’s 3rd Army and Willie Fore served as a driver in the Eight Ball Express. I remember both as young boy. They are the reason I chose West Point as to carry on their legacy of military service to this great country.
Q: What was it like to share the experience with other grads and veterans from various generations?
A: Being the oldest grad (69 years old) that actually jumped out of perfectly good 80-year-old airplanes into Normandy, I would like to say “Proud and Great” ’78 led the way. Seriously, meeting grads from 1983, 1993, 2014 and other years was one the highlights of the 80th Normandy D-Day Anniversary. We were all in awe to be there. We were proud to be West Pointers and to be there. We were in a state of surrealism knowing that some of us were to jump into the sacred and hallowed drop zones that members of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed on in the early morning of June 6, 1944. We were all speechless and at the same time elated after the jumps as we reflected on what we had just accomplished. We as West Pointers honored those heroes by continuing their legacy with the goal of passing the torch of remembrance to future generations. It was incredible and memorable.
Q: Was there something that surprised you or was an unexpected outcome of the experience for you personally?
A: There was an event that was unexpected and a surprise for me personally. I was privileged to meet three D-Day Veterans at the Cherbourg Airport in France on the evening of June 9, 2024.
This was unexpected. We had just scrubbed our third jump into Saint Mere Eglise four winds. We’d been in our parachutes on the airport ramp for hours and I needed to go to the bathroom in a bad way after un-donning my parachute. I walked into the airport terminal in search of a restroom. To my amazement, there were three vets in their wheelchairs with their handlers and really no one else around. They were awaiting transportation. I was blown away! Being quick on my feet occasionally, I remembered I had three sets of Airborne wings in my pocket that I jumped into Azeville, France with on June 5. I intended to hand them out to children or trade for foreign wings. I without hesitation pulled them out of my pocket and proceeded to pin those three sets of Airborne Wings onto the three D-Day vets. I made them honorary paratroopers on the spot. They were thrilled.
Now comes the surprise. My wife Linda and I decided the next morning on June 10, 2024, to stop by the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer on our way to Paris to fly home. There were no crowds and we got in quickly. We walked through the cemetery paying our respects and as we turned the corner, there sitting in his wheelchair, by one of the grave sites was one of the D-Day veterans that I had pinned the Airborne Wings on the previous evening at the Cherbourg Airport. He was visiting one of his fallen comrades. You could see the wings on his coat clearly. It was a scene straight out of “Saving Private Ryan.” My wife and I could not hold back the tears.
