John+Steele

John Marvin Steele was born on November 29, 1912 in Metropolis, Illinois. John Steele was an American paratrooper that served in the U.S. Army. Steele was ranked as a Private and he served in the 82nd Airborne Division.

On June 5th (the day before D-Day) the paratroopers were supposed to parachute to an area west of the town, Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Instead, they were dropped directly over the village by mistake. The town was filled with German soldiers at the time and the paratroopers were easy targets. As he parachuted from the plane, Steele was wounded by a shell and lost control of his parachute. The parachute then got stuck on the steeple of the village church. He hung on the church for about 2 hours pretending to be dead. Steele was later captured by the Germans as prisoner. He was able to escape and reunite with his division. His battalion was able to attack the village which resulted in the capture and death of many German soldiers.

After World War II, John Steele was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat. He died of throat cancer on May 16, 1969. In honor of Steele, the village church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise displays a parachute on the steeple where his parachute was caught. Today, the church has visible bullet holes from the battle and paratroopers were painted on stained glass. Private John M. Steele was made famous in the movie, The Longest Day.