Glenn Roysdon lives in Billings, Montana. [Annotator’s Note: There is a brief pause in the interview.] He and his brother entered the service in the Second World War. His brother had graduated in 1941 in time for the war. Having been part of ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps], he went right into the Army as soon as the war started. Roysdon enlisted in 1941 in the Army Air Forces, but was not called up until 1942. He chose to become a glider pilot because of the better pay. He trained to be a glider pilot over the next two years. He learned to fly small airplanes, perform acrobatics, and become familiar with cross country navigation. He flew Piper Cubs and Cessna aircraft. He also flew a Waco high wing biplane. Part of the training was in Billings, and then he went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He trained in Washington and then in Texas and North Carolina. He left for overseas out of New Jersey in 1945 on the Nieuw Amsterdam [Annotator’s Note: SS Nieuw Amsterdam, a Dutch liner]. President Roosevelt died while he was at sea on the voyage [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States died in April 1945]. Arriving in Scotland, he was sent to southern England by train. He no longer trained, but sat around waiting for something to do. There were about two dozen pilots with him. He was in the 313th Troop Carrier Group. It had previously assisted in the invasion of southern France [Annotator’s Note: Operatino Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France, 15 August to 14 September 1944] and the crossing of the Rhine. Even though Roysdon had not yet arrived in Europe for those actions, he was credited with two battle stars [Annotator's Note: a device worn on a campaign ribbon to indicate the number of campaigns a ship or individual took part in] for those engagements. [Annotator’s Note: He laughs.] A safe landing with a glider is dependent upon keeping proper air speed and glide angle plus guessing at the best spot to bring the aircraft down. The landing fields were not very long. The problem was avoiding obstacles on the way into the landing on the ground. Roysdon made about 500 landings without breaking a glider. He had to land big gliders, the Waco CG-13, with 10,000 pounds of sand in the back to simulate a load of about a hundred people with their gear. After cutting loose from the tow plane, the glider assumed a 45 degree glide angle. Roysdon had to reach a certain spot at a nominal speed or the aircraft would fall out of the sky. It was hairy, but he managed to do it. The air speed varied by the extent of load carried. An average landing was at 45 to 50 miles per hour. Stall out speed would be about 38 miles per hour. The wingspan was about 70 feet on the CG-13 and Waco CG-4a. There was little difference in flying the two, except for air and landing speeds plus angle of glide. Landing at night was difficult because of vision limitations. Nighttime landings were aided by pathfinders landing first and setting up smoke pots to illuminate safe landing zones. Landing lights were not practical. Roysdon never landed with troops. As a pilot, he was responsible to help tie down supplies in the back of the glider. He did not mind because he wanted to be assured that the load would not slip forward and crush him on landing. [Annotator’s Note: He chuckles.] One of his fellow pilots stalled out from gliding too slow. He crashed nose first into the ground and died. Roysdon flew double glider tows with two gliders behind one transport. He also worked with snatch pick up with a rope tied across two stakes and a transport grabbing the rope with its tail hook. The glider went from zero to 60 miles an hour in three seconds. [Annotator’s Note: He laughs.]

Glenn Roysdon last saw his brother, Dale, in 1941 or 1942 when he brought his car home before he was shipped overseas [Annotator’s Note: Dale Roysdon, a captain in the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, killed in action in Normandy on 6 or 7 June 1944]. The automobile was a 1942 Hudson that Dale had bought while being trained in a tank outfit at Fort Ord, California. From there, he transferred into the paratroopers and joined the 82nd Airborne in Florida. He was in Casablanca in Africa. He wrote to his folks a lot. Roysdon did not hear much about Dale’s exploits because of censorship. Dale was two years older than Glenn. The family was proud of Dale being a paratrooper. A month after D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944], word was received about Dale being a casualty. Roysdon was in Texas. His parents took the news of Dale’s death very hard. Glenn received leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and returned home. Roysdon had planned to catch up with his older brother, but his death ended that notion unless he was killed too. [Annotator’s Note: He chuckles.] Lots of people were getting killed at that time with all the men in the services. Roysdon kept up with what the airborne units were doing through magazines such as Life and Time. Dale was also part of the invasion of Sicily [Annotator’s Note: codenamed Operatino Husky, 9 July to 17 August 1943; Sicily, Italy] which received coverage in the magazines. Dale was also in Italy where he bought good artistic pictures in Milan which he sent home. At the time of the Normandy invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944], Roysdon was in North Carolina at Laurinburg-Maxton glider training base. Roysdon may have found out about his brother’s death either by a telephone call or letter from his parents. They wrote to him all the time. Officers in the airborne learned to take their insignia off their helmets so that they would not be spotted so easily by the enemy. After he returned home, Roysdon went to work in his folks’ furniture store and found a place to live. Dale had been single and almost 24 years old when he was killed on the 6th or 7th of June. His body was returned to his hometown by the government in 1946 or 1947. His funeral and burial were well attended by the town folks. Roysdon’s mother collected quite a few newspaper clippings of the event. There were military honors for the fallen officer. The American Legion took over the ceremony with the six gun salute and other formalities. It was similar to what is done for a fallen soldier today. Roysdon expected his brother might not return because of the paratroopers’ hazardous duty. They were the shock troops. As much as 50 to 75 percent casualties were anticipated in those outfits. Dale Roysdon had flat feet so he had to contort his walk for his physical to assure taht he would be accepted. After taking long walks in training, his feet would bleed sometimes. He had guts and would do what was expected with a straight face. Dale made captain about a year and a half after completing his ROTC, but before he went into Africa. Dale Roysdon was with planning and logistics with the battalion [Annotator’s Note: He served with Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division].

[Annotator’s Note: The last portion of the Glenn Roysdon interview involves filming of Roysdon Hall United States Army Reserve Center in Billings, Montana. Captured on film is the memorial to Captain Dale A. Roysdon of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division who was killed in action in Normandy on 7 June 1944 according to the plaque information seen in the video. There is no audio on this segment.]