On June 6, 1944, an 18-year-old Bud Gowder of Gainesville jumped out of a plane to land on the beaches of Normandy. He missed slightly, landing in a tree. His wife, Laverne Gowder, recounted this story and others like it more than 70 years later at her home in Gainesville.
Gainesville woman recounts her husband's D-Day war stories
Laverne Gowder shares tales of Bud's time as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army during World War II