Army Green Berets parachute into Mont Saint-Michel to commemorate Jedburghs 75th anniversary
Mont Saint-Michel sees more than 3 million visitors each year, but most do not arrive via parachute.
To commemorate their special operations predecessors, three U.S. Air Force aircraft delivering about 135 soldiers assigned to the Army's 10th Special Forces Group conducted an airborne operation outside the Mont Saint-Michel abbey in Normandy, France on Saturday, May 18.
“Overall it was a great jump. It was smooth and went as planned,” one soldier said. “It’s an outstanding experience to be able to honor the paratroopers who jumped into France during World War II.”
The jump was in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the drop of Jedburgh teams into France ahead of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Jedbrughs were a group of just under three hundred men from the British Special Operations Executive, American Office of Strategic Services, and General Charles de Gaulle’s Free French organization who were instrumental in directing and training local resistance fighters behind enemy lines in occupied Europe.
"(The 10th Special Forces Group) draws their lineage from the Jedburghs,” said a senior enlisted soldier assigned to the group. “We're celebrating their combined effort to liberate Western Europe with local forces. The airborne operation celebrates the long relationship between America and France and 10th SFG's commitment to continuing the tradition of training and working with our allies in Europe.”
“We’re honored to participate in the jump and celebrate with the great people of France,” an unnamed soldier who made the jump said. “It’s important to remember the veterans both past and present and what they represent in service to their country.”
