By Joan Hallmark - bio | email
HIDAWAY, TX - Although Bill Prindible was trained as a fighter pilot, his role in World War II was changed to transport aircraft for the big invasion. For Prindible, D-Day began on June fifth, 1944, with the dropping of paratroopers behind enemy lines. It had been dark on the flight over, but on the way back, daylight magnified the Normandy Beach, littered with bodies and blood. Prindible says "it was a scene beyond description."
Flight after flight, Prindible and other carriers continued to drop paratroopers and supplies. Prindible says he "was shot up but not shot down." However, he lost his entire crew on one flight he didn't pilot. Prindible's plane was hit by anti-aircraft numerous times. One time he even returned to base to find an unexploded shell in his fuel tank.
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