June 6th 1944 marks a very important day in world history, the Allied invasion of France during the second world war. The daring mission of Operation Overlord to establish a foothold along the Normandy coast would prove to be the largest amphibious invasions in history, and critical in freeing fortress Europe from the clutches of Nazi control.
This upcoming June is the 75th anniversary of the invasion, and precious few of the surviving veterans remain making this arguably one of the most important anniversaries to observe.
On the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, retired US Army Ranger and Special Forces Sergeant Major John “Shrek” McPhee will visit historic WWII sites with his brethren Rangers, to retrace the footsteps of the original Rangers and Paratroopers of that day.
At the end of this adventure, John will be re-enacting the D-day paratrooper jump with the Liberty Jump team.
When John started to plan this once in a lifetime trip, a lot of friends and students got excited, and wished they could go along. Obviously, we can’t all go but it got Shrek thinking. “Why not document the trip? Time is slipping away to hear about the exploits of our soldiers in their own words, and opportunities to have this many generations of Ranger in one place are nearly impossible.
John plans to film a full documentary showing the birthplace of the modern Rangers, and travel to Normandy to meet with Ranger Veterans from that day, the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalion members that participated in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944. It was during the bitter fighting along the beaches that the Rangers gained their motto, “Rangers, lead the way!” as they conducted daring missions to include scaling the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc, overlooking Omaha Beach, to destroy German gun emplacements trained on the beachhead.
With your help, we can bring this project to life. Your donation will go directly to the film production for this project. Hitting our goal for this project allows us to provide the plane tickets, lodging, production equipment, and documentary crew that will elevate the level of production and cinematic quality of this project. Please view the Gofundme page for additional information and updates!
About John “SHREK” McPhee:
Sergeant Major (ret) John McPhee AKA “The Sheriff of Baghdad” served a distinguished career in U.S. Army Special Operations for over 20 years, retiring in 2011. Better known for his call sign “SHREK”, John has spent his adult life in Special Operations and Special Mission Units. His career path was as follows: 1st Ranger Battalion, Special Forces (green beret), and Delta Force, and retired at the highest enlisted rank of Sergeant Major. He is well known for his training and gear company “Sheriff of Baghdad”, his unique online diagnostics training through GunfighterU.com and appearances in numerous television shows.
GOFUNDME Link: https://www.gofundme.com/the-75th-jump-with-john-shrek-mcphee
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