Oromocto man honours WWII veterans by parachuting over Normandy

Rick Hersey has been participating in the commemorative jumps in Normandy for four years

Saturday marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day and an Oromocto firefighter will honour the soldiers who fought in World War II by jumping out of an airplane.

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces including Canadian, British and American troops launched the largest seaborne invasion in history that helped liberate France from the Nazis.

Rick Hersey has been marking the anniversary for four years by participating in parachute jump events in Normandy, France.

“It’s just to commemorate and remember them,” Hersey said. “Eighteen, 19, 20-year-old kids that were jumping out in the dark and getting shot at.

“We don't jump to honour the war, we jump to honour the people that fought in it.”

Hersey is not a veteran, but thinks it’s important for all Canadians to remember historic events, such as D-Day, so that history doesn’t repeat itself.

Hersey’s trip will include jumps out of the same aircraft he says dropped United States paratroopers on D-Day.

“One of the planes that I will be jumping from and have jumped from in the past, it still has 66 bullet holes in it from World War II.”

On Friday, Hersey and a group of about 40 others landed in a drop zone in Angoville-Au-Pain, which is home to a church where two American medics provided aid to soldiers on D-Day.

“It’s a commemoration to not just the ones that jump but to the two medics that did their job through some pretty trying times,” he said.

Hersey will also jump over La Fiere on Sunday in front of a crowd of about 10,000 people and Saint-Germain-de-Varreville on Monday.

Oromocto man parachutes into Normandy to honour D-Day veterans

“You can hear the people cheering, you hear them clapping,” he said of his past jumps. “It’s quite a feeling coming down and hearing that.”

Inspired by history and remembrance

Hersey also participates in commemorative jumps for veterans of Operation Market Garden, which was a battle in the Netherlands in WWII that is considered the largest airborne invasion in history.

“I’ve always liked history, big into history and remembering,” he said. “It was actually my wife who found the Parachute Group Holland ad and said ‘Oh you might like to do this.’

“I wear a replica uniform from the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion that was in World War II ... when I jump.”

But at this year’s commemorative events in Normandy, Hersey will have something new in his pocket — a pair of jump wings belonging to a WWII veteran.

“A friend of mine, his uncle was in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, these are his wings and I will have them in my pocket when I jump,” he said.

“Those wings will have done an actual combat jump in D-Day and they did a commemorative jump 82 years later.”

Hope Edmond is a reporter based in Moncton.