Locals Commemorate D-Day Invasion

A C-47 aircraft rested outside the Palm Springs Air Museum garage.

Lt. Col. Richard Rosborough flew one in the 1950s when he was in the air force.

“It’s like driving a large car except you’re going up and down,” he said. “But, it flies very simply, and it was easy and kind of fun.”

For Capt. Dean McCandless, this aircraft carried a lot of memories. As a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, he jumped during the pre-dawn raid on Normandy, France.

“I was coming down, and I saw a structure that looked like a transformer,” he said. “So, I slipped my suit like crazy to get away from that and landed in a barnyard with some cattle.”

He served as a communications officer.

He escaped death when his helmet blocked the first bullet. But, his tour ended when the second bullet injured his shoulder.

“Our battallion commander was killed, battallion executive was killed, battallion S3 was killed,” he recalled. “George Golden and I were the only ones left in the battallion command post.”

After his military career ended, Capt. McCandless went on to medical school and specialized in family practice.

He now lives in La Quinta.

At 91 years old, he’s grateful to be sharing still his tales of survival.

“I hope to hell that I’m a good representative of all those guys that were left behind,” he said. “So many were friends of mine.”