john maddente | midwestern clarity

S omehow I missed this local news article about two years ago on the 72nd anniversary of D-Day.  T he details of a D-Day jump with the 82nd Airborne Division (and subsequent trip back to Normandy 72 years later) is told  in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article  by Meg Jones.    Yesterday, I met the gentleman who was the subject of that piece, Mr. Ralph Ticcioni of New Berlin, Wisconsin. (Disclosure: Ralph is Uncle to one of my brothers-in-law).   French Legion of Honour recipient, Ralph Ticcioni John Maddente photo As I listened to the 95 year old veteran speak about his experience, I marveled at his deep humility.   As a paratrooper that fateful day, Ralph along with thousands of his comrades were dropped behind enemy lines.  Unlike his comrades, he landed smack onto a farm rooftop in  Cherbourg, France  whereupon he had to cut himself loose from his own parachute which was entangled on a weather vane.  So...