English: The United States Army Air Forces, the precursor to the United States Air Force, used thousands of special purpose Douglas DC-3 commercial airliners during World War II. Most common was the C-47 “Skytrain” that had a reinforced floor and large cargo door. The similar Douglas C-53 “Skytrooper” carried wounded, cargo, and paratroopers during the war.

This Skytrooper, affectionately known as “Ruby Ann” by her crew, may have flew over Normandy, France, on D-Day on June 6, 1944, doing a glider tow in the first mission of Operation Overlord. That mission started at sunrise on June 6, 1944. It did one addiditional glider tow on June 6 and one more on June 7. She also towed gliders during Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne mission in history. “Ruby Ann” likely dropped supplies to troops surrounded in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German attack at the end of 1944.

After World War II, “Ruby Ann” came back to the U.S. She first flew as a passenger plane for American Airlines. She passed through several private owners before the Drug Enforcement Agency reclaimed her in July 1984. After two years of restoration, she came to rest here at the Aerospace Museum.