Destination Normandy: Three American Regiments on D-DayBennett collects oral histories from men of three United States regiments that participated in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment was the most widely scattered of the American parachute infantry regiments to be dropped on D-Day. However, the efforts of 180 men to stop the advance of an SS Panzer Grenadier division largely have been ignored outside of France. The 116th Infantry Regiment received the highest number of casualties on Omaha Beach of any Allied unit on D-Day. Stationed in England through most of the war, it had been the butt of jokes while other regiments did the fighting and dying in North Africa and the Mediterranean; that changed on June 6, 1944. And the 22nd Infantry Regiment, a unit that had fought in almost every campaign waged by the U.S. Army since 1812, came ashore on Utah Beach quite easily before getting embroiled in a series of savage fights to cross the marshland behind the beach and to capture the German heavy batteries to the north. |
From inside the book
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... leadership within the 507th . Gavin favored the removal of Colonel Millet , the regiment's commanding officer , and at least one of the battalion commanders . Gavin considered Millet “ lazy , soft , indolent , lacking leadership ...
... leadership was evident . Had this been an actual operation , it is extremely doubtful if many men would have left the beach alive.2 21 The proficiency of the 116th Infantry Regiment ensured that it would be entrusted with the task of ...
... leadership under deadly enemy fire . Bronze Star , GO 38 , July 1 . Captain CHARLES W. EAST , 0323710 ; inspired men to cross beach and knock out enemy machine gun nest . Bronze Star , GO 38 , July 1 . Captain CHARLES H. KIDD , 0396656 ...
Contents
Operation Bolero and the Clash of Cultures | 1 |
Three Regiments and the Mind of the | 7 |
Early Training and the Buildup to June 6 1944 | 19 |
Copyright | |
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