Bill Colwel, who parachuted into France on June 6, 1944, at the age of just 16, recounted his experiences on D-Day during coverage of its 70th anniversary on Morning Joe.
Colwel lied about his age to join the Armed Forces, claiming to be turning 18 the day he signed up when he was really only 15 years old. Colwel said just before he jumped out of the plane that day, the jump master said, "Look to your left, look to your right. One of you will not see daylight."
"I couldn't get that out of my mind," he said.
The wind took him about 20 miles inland, when he was supposed to land just two miles from the beaches. The next morning, he made contact with fellow troops who had gotten similarly lost, and it took five days for him to rejoin his unit at the beach as they were forced to travel under cover of nightfall.
Co-host Mike Barnicle asked him how he handled the fear he must have felt.
"It wasn't easy," Colwel said. "The fear that I had most of all is the second day I put down my first enemy German. I had been taught by a Christian mother that you never murder, and that's what I thought of as soon as that happened ... I [did] carry that with me then."