This is the starting point of the way of liberty, which ends at Bastogne in Belgium.
Its crown with 48 stars represents the 48states of the USA in 1944;
The 4 red rectangles represent the 4sections of the way of liberty:
-         Ste-Mère-Eglise/ Cherbourg
-         Ste-Mère-Eglise/ Avranches
-         Avranches/ Metz
-         Metz/ Luxembourg/ Bastogne
In the centre, the torch coming out of the sea patterns the statue of liberty in New-York.
On the white side, you can see the mileage, the number, and several directions. There are also some waves representing the Atlantic Ocean.

In the night of the 6^th of June 1944, a house burnt in the park of “La Haule”, where the museum is atpresent. Firemen tried to control fire. But they needed some help. Inhabitants were passing to each other some buckets filled with water, and formed a chain from the old pump. The curfew had been removed, and about 50 German soldiers were helping. Suddenly, machine guns went into action. Planes were streaming above their heads. Paratroopers were parachuted down to the land. Then, people at the pump stopped what they were doing, because German soldiers were opening fire. All around, paratroopers fell on the ground; one of them fell in the middle of the flames. Once on the square, American paratroopers saw men with gilding helmets, and thought of killing them, but others realized that they had no guns. Finally, nobody shot, and firemen came back home.
A few minutes later, in the south of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, a big plane crashed, and was on fire. A second fire broke out in Sainte-Mère-Eglise.

John M. Steele was born in Metropolis, state of Illinois (USA) on November 29^th of 1912.
At dawn of World War II, John volunteered his services to the Allied, as a paratrooper. Assigned to 82^nd Airborne Division, F Company 505^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, he arrived in North Africa in May 1943.
After a few weeks, units of the 505^th Combat team invaded Sicily on the night of July 9, 1943. John broke his left leg and was sent to hospital in North Africa.
When he came back in Italy in September 1943, he fought from Salerna to Naples and then left this country to reach the British Island in November 1943.
In the night from 5^th to 6^th June 1944, during the invasion of the US troops on Sainte-Mère-Eglise area, John had been wounded by a shell fragment. He couldn't steer his parachute any longer and landed on the church steeple at about 4.00 a.m. John dangled from the church steeple and tried to free himself as the fighting continued all around the church. He tried to cut himself free from his parachute but his jump knife slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. John made a life-saving decision, he decided to fake death. After more than two hours hanging from church, John was lowered to the ground by a German soldier named Rudolf May. He was moved by truck to an aid station to be tended to. Three days later, he escaped to reach a nearby Allied line and was transferred to a hospital in England.
In September 1944, he was parachuted in to the Ninejen area (Holland) and participated in the liberation of that city. 
In November 1944, he took part in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes area (close to the city of Reims in North of France).
In April 1945, he arrived in the Frankfurt area (Germany). There, he participated in the Elbe River Crossing and ended the WWII hostilities there. Then he returned to his base and training camp area, reassigned to the 17^th Airborne Division and moved to Marseille in France, to go back to USA and was discharged from military forces in September 1945.
After a few years, John returned several times to Sainte-Mère-Eglise for liberation anniversaries. He died of cancer in 1969, at the age of 57, in his little town of North Carolina. He wished he had been buried in Normandy… but unfortunately it was not respected.

Historical tour :

15 bornes like this one to discover the History of the Landing in the night. Around 1 hour by foot.