One additional C-47, which had returned to base earlier in the day without dropping its stick of paratroopers, accompanied the last flight of the mission.To reduce congestion over the landing zones, two serials of mission Elmira were delayed two hours until just before sunset.The second wave of mission Elmira arrived at 2255 just as the terrain was enveloped in shadow, and since no other pathfinder aids were operating, headed for the Eureka beacon on LZ O.Approximately halfway there, it came under the most severe ground fire of the day, since the route to LZ O passed directly over and along the German lines.Strom Thurmond, then a lieutenant colonel in a civil affairs unit was at age 41 credited with being the oldest person attached to the division to go into Normandy with the invasion.