Parachute Group Plans Special Honor For D-Day Paratrooper

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ A World War II Army paratrooper from McAlester will be honored this weekend when a group of parachutists spread his ashes in a special jump. <br/>A ceremony in honor of Harold Thain

Friday, March 30th 2007, 7:41 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ A World War II Army paratrooper from McAlester will be honored this weekend when a group of parachutists spread his ashes in a special jump.
A ceremony in honor of Harold Thain will be held Saturday at a Bristow airfield before the Liberty Jump Team takes Thain's ashes up for one last flight.

The 85-year-old Thain was planning a reunion with other members of the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion when he died last month at his McAlester home.

His family requested the special jump to honor Thain, who was among the paratroopers who jumped in the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

He also earned a Silver Star for a jump later in the war in Holland.

After leaving the military, Thain was the Dean of Mental Health at the University of Texas in Austin.