"Balloon Umbrella Raised on D-Day
has Sheltered the Beachheads Since"

by Allan Morrison
(Stars and Stripes Staff Writer)

A U.S. BEACHHEAD, July 5---During and since D-Day barrage balloons flown by a Negro barrage balloon battalion have provided a screen of rubber several miles long on the two main beachheads assisting in the protection of troop landings and the unloading of supplies. There are two significant aspects of this unit's work. First, the VLA (very low altitude) balloons confounded skeptics... their part in keeping enemy raiders above effective strafing altitude. Second, the unit has the distinction of being the only Negro combat group included in the first assault forces to hit the coasts. The balloons were flown across the channel from hundreds of landing craft, three men to a balloon, and taken ashore under savage fire from shore batteries. Some of the men died alongside the infantryman they came in to protect, and their balloons drifted off. But the majority struggled to shore with their balloons and light winches and set up for operation in foxholes on the beach. The balloons still fly as protective umbrellas, some from the sites taken under 88 fire, others snugly established in former German pillboxes built into the cliffs and man their balloons around the clock. The balloons are armed with a lethal device attached to the cable. Should an enemy pilot try to fly through the barrage and strike a cable, the device releases a "flying mine" which explodes against the plane. The unit's first kill came recently when a JU88 ran afoul of the cable supporting the balloon of commanded by Cpl. George Alston, of Norfolk, Va. Pride of the battalion is a group of medics who covered themselves with glory on D-Day by landing in the face of heavy fire to set up a first aid station on that beach. The men praised by the unit's CO, Lt. Col. Leon Reed, of Middleboro, Ky., are: Capt. Robert E. Devitt, Chicago, Ill.; S/Sgt Alfred Bell, Memphis Tenn.; Cpl. Waverly B. Woodson Jr., Philadelphia; Cpl. Eugene Worthy, Memphis, Tenn., and Pfc. Warren W. Capers, Kenbridge, Va. All have been recommended for decorations.