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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... craft from getting their troops ashore . Behind this was a layer of " Rommel's asparagus , " logs driven into the sand that pointed out to sea . At the seaward end of the log was lashed a teller mine , or shell , which could destroy an ...
... craft succumbed to the sea or enemy fire short of the beach found themselves in a particularly difficult position . The subsequent waves of landing craft would pass men desperately trying to keep their heads above the waves . Life ...
... craft on which Riggs was coming ashore was struck by enemy shell fire , it began to sink in the rough sea . Despite the intense enemy fire , Riggs plunged into the sea and swam 500 yards to another landing craft and directed it to the ...
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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