15 August 1944, before the glider mission in Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of Southern France. Glider pilots Robert Morehous and Verne Ogden of the 94th TC Sqdn pose with some of their "glider riders" — members of the 442d Regimental Combat Team, which the 439th carried into battle in the afternoon glider mission. The 442d was a highly decorated unit made up of Japanese-American soldiers. This was the second air assault mission of the day for 439th TCG power pilots. Their paratroop mission took-off shortly after midnight, and the glider mission flew the following afternoon. The invasion force included amphibious landings on a 45-mile stretch of beaches along the Côte d'Azur between Cavalaire-sur-Mer and Agay. The objectives included the port cities of Toulon and Marseilles. Airborne troopers, as in Normandy, were to prevent the Germans from getting to the beaches and keep the beach egress open for troops coming in from the sea. The invasion forces were then to strike up the Rhône Valley to join with the troops streaming across France from Normandy.