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The Black Heroes Who Protected U.S. Troops on D-Day

WWII
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Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast

The soldiers of the segregated 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only black combat unit at D-Day, had a critical mission: stop German planes from decimating the troops.

In a little-known chapter of World War II, thousands of African-American troops trained to fly barrage balloons, defensive weapons used to protect Allied soldiers from dive-bombing enemy planes during the D-Day invasion.

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