PHILLIPS — The 101st Airborne is coming to Phillips on Saturday, June 8, just two days after the 75th anniversary of their dropping into France during the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad will host “I Company” of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division on June 8. The group coming to Phillips, many of whom are from Massachusetts and other New England states, reenacts the Pathfinder Team that dropped into the Normandy area before the main body of troops.

Leaders of the reenactment group are Norm Harbinson (colonel), Joshua Harbinson (first lieutenant), both from Kingston, Massachusetts, and Matthew Speidel, (first sergeant), also from Massachusetts. The group has visited Phillips before in other guises, most notably during the railroad’s Western reenactments.

A few of the reenactors will wear German uniforms and contribute to the drama of the day. Passengers on the SR&RLRR will be in the middle of the action and will have front row seats to the event. The narrow gauge trains leave from Sanders Station on Bridge Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the hour, and fares are $6 for adults and children 13 or older, and $2 for kids under 13. Children under 6 ride free.

For more information on the railroad, including its schedule and special events calendars, visit http://www.srrl-rr.org/.

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