On the night of June 5 to 6, 13,000 paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were dropped over Normandy in the vicinity of Sainte-Mère-Église. The pilots flew too high to avoid the German anti-aircraft defense and deviated from their objective. Private John Steele jumped over the village and landed on the church steeple. Wounded in the foot, he was unhooked by a German and held prisoner before escaping after three days. In 1959, a book recounted his misadventure, and John Steele is depicted in the movie The longest day. A dummy and its real parachute still hang from the bell tower of Sainte-Mère-Église as a souvenir.