IX TCC glider pilots fought as infantry after they landed their gliders on the LZs after the crossing of the Rhine River in the invasion of Germany. During the Rhine mission, many GPs and their passengers, troopers of the 17th Airborne Division, were pinned down on their landing zones for hours. Canvas-covered Waco CG-4A gliders offered scant cover. Shown here is Flight Officer Donald O'Neill, a glider pilot with the 78th TC Sqdn, 435th Group. Photo taken by William K. Horn on 24 March 1945.