“Well, then. At about eleven-thirty that night, your father and I stood at the hospital door. We were to start back home, and Marie was to stay with your mother. We heard bombing all around us. Your father said, ‘The bombing is getting bad.’
“Just as he said that, we heard loud shouting in German, and Nazis began pouring out of their camp onto the roads.
“A minute later there was the sound of motorcycles and cars shrieking in the streets, and heavy antiaircraft fire.
“Someone cried out, ‘The Invasion has begun! Parachutists are landing all around Ste. Mère!’
“Your father felt that his duty was to remain with Mme. Gagnon. I, that my duty was to hasten home. And I promised to look after you, André.”
The old man smiled wryly. “I did not have much chance to do that, did I?
“In the midst of it, Marie appeared. She was with Leon Duplis, a Maquis I know well.
“She said, ‘Father, the Maquis here need women to help with the villagers. Please do not forbid me to go. In the hospital, Mother is in good hands.’
“Your father agreed, but not willingly. In another minute Marie and Leon were on a motorcycle and out of sight.”
“But how did you get home, father? It has been five days,” asked André.