17th Airborne paratrooper preparing to jump across the Rhine River into Nazi Germay

Less than a year after paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division first popularized the modern-day Mohawk during the D-Day invasion, this young 17th Airborne Division paratrooper prepares to board a plane in liberated north-central France to parachute across Germany's Rhine River in the "Operation Varsity" combat jump just 45 days before the war ended with the suicide of Hitler. This young trooper, who appeared at the time to be barely out of his teenage years, would now be an old man in his 90s is he's still alive. He'd be really proud to know that his combat Mohawk is now widely copied by young men who appreciate the courage he showed.