“It is essential that all subordinate units be cautioned not to fire on these friendly planes.” Although Patton signed the order at 8:45 A.M., congestion in Monrovia’s signal room kept it from being coded and dispatched until 4:20 P.M. Ridgway this afternoon had traipsed among antiaircraft batteries along Green 2 asking whether the gunners knew that “aircraft bearing friendly parachute troops” would soon be overhead: five crews had in fact heard, while a sixth had not.
