June 6 will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Europe. One of the abiding images of that time is that of paratroopers from the three airborne divisions boarding their planes the evening of June 5 in preparation for their jumps. The HBO series, Band of Brothers, spent some time displaying how burdened these young troopers were by their equipment. That evening they boarded their flight only with the assistance of others. The necessities of dropping behind the invasion beaches as part of the plan demanded that they arrive as a self-sufficient force.