This presentation of In Their Own Words is dedicated to the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

The invasion of Europe was the largest challenge facing the United States in World War II.

But before the invasion fleet headed towards the beaches,

hundreds of troops were transported behind enemy lines.

As it had been in the invasions of Italy and North Africa before,

the gliders, developed by the Allies,

would transport most of the troops destined to lead the fight into harm's way.

While they might be preferable to a parachute jump, gliders were fraught with their own set of risks.

Flemishly constructed of wood and canvas, these unpowered and unarmed planes fell like a stone

and had the flight characteristics of an airborne freighter.

Many of them would meet their demise at the hands of German anti-aircraft gunners

or piled up against a hedgerow or glider trap as they slid to a deadly stop in the fields of Normandy.

But some got through, and the brave men who flew them made all the difference on D-Day.

William Horn was comfortably ensconced and his job at Shell Oil when his nation called for him.

He was draft exempt, but like so many men of his generation, heeded that call by joining the

army as a glider pilot at the age of 31.

I had no idea about any of it.

And I didn't learn about it until I got in and got involved,

and it was too late.

But a curious thing happened on the way to the forum.

They did a tremendous selling job through the Army to get guys to volunteer for glider

pilot training.

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