NO BETTER PLACE TO DIE: Ste Mere Eglise, June 1944: The Battle for la Fiere Bridge

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The you-are-there story of one of the most ferocious small-unit combats in US history . . . the 505th Regimental Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division in Normandy during D-Day. Its task was to seize the vital crossroads of Ste Mere Eglise, and to hold the bridge over the Merderet River at nearby La Fiere. Benefiting from dynamic battlefield leadership, the paratroopers reached the bridge, only to be met by wave after wave of German tanks and infantry desperate to force the crossing. The 505th not only held the vital bridge for three days but launched a counterattack in the teeth of enemy fire to secure their objective once and for all, albeit at gruesome cost. Robert M. Murphy was a Pathfinder and member of A Company, 505th PIR, was wounded three times in action, and made all four combat jumps with his regiment, fighting in Sicily, Italy, Normandy, and Holland.