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NEWS: [See all News]
Raymond S. HOBACK - 29th Division.
Bedford Boys Fallen - Raymond Samuel HOBACK never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrified his life for our freedom... Raymond may have made it out of his landing craft, but he never made it to shore. Others recall seeing his body in the water. Bedford also failed to make in on the beach. He was killed by an exploding 88mm shell. Their time in the battle could be measured in minutes... [American D-Day facebook] Read more...
[Posted: 2020-01-21 22:40:05]
RIP - Robert GIGUERE - Navy.
It is with heavy heart we learn the passing of Mr. Robert GIGUERE, a veteran of D-Day (Normandy)... He was 93... Four days earlier, Giguere rode across the choppy English Channel toward the Normandy coast with the Sixth Naval Beach Battalion. When his carrier grounded on the beach, a Teller mine detonated from beneath and tore through the ship's hull, Killing several soldiers below deck... [American D-Day facebook] Read more...
[Posted: 2020-01-21 22:58:23]
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WALL - IN MEMORY OF: [See all Messages]
PALMER SAMUEL C
29TH INFANTRY DIVISION
Samuel Clinton Palmer Service ID: 35803938 From: Tallega, Lee County, Ky Birth Date November 28, 1924 Casualty Date June 6, 1944 Army Corporal HQ Company, 2nd Battalion, 116 Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division Casualty Type KIA - Kill in Action Location: Omaha Beach, Normandy, France
Honored by Jeffrey Palmer
[Posted: 2023-12-25 14:40:54]
LAHAYE EDWARD J
8TH AIR FORCE
I had the great honor of visiting the Normandy American Cemetery in June, 2023. I walked the grounds until I found a Texas soldier. It was that of Edward J Lahaye. It was truly a moving experience. I hoped to reach out to his family with a photo of his cross, but see it is already posted on this
Honored by Lil Metzger
[Posted: 2023-07-23 04:48:28]
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OMAHA BEACH MEMORIAL - TESTIMONIES
Partager
Captain John C. Raaen

5th Ranger Battalion
Headquarters Company

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We could hear the planes overhead, the ships bombarding the coast. What with the Air Corps and the Navy, Normandy's defenses would be a shambles by the time we hit the beach. And the minutes droned on. H-hour. No word from the Second. A beach master's radio came through clearly to the effect "Omaha Dog White is clear. Troops meeting no resistance." No word from the Second.
We shifted our course toward Dog beach. There would still be time to change our course for the cliffs if only the signal would come through. I'm not sure of this next, but I vaguely recall hearing a radio message from the Second. It was feeble and almost unintelligible. We weren't sure what it meant, but it didn't mean success. Colonel Schneider has waited as long as he could and now we'd have to really move to land on time. The beachmaster on Dog White had stopped his talk. We soon saw the reason why.
We were still about a thousand yards out when A and B of the Second touched down. The ramps dropped and the men were slaughtered by machine gun fire. You could see them drop as they tried to get out. In desperation, they went over the sides and lay half drowning in the water hidden behind obstacles. A scattered few made it up the beach. Others began to move out of the water.
Most made it now that they were dispersed Except for a few Rangers and smashed boats there in that hell of fire, the beach looked empty. Colonel Schneider in the wave ahead of us watched the slaughter through his binoculars. I don't know what he thought, but I can imagine, when you remember that two months before, he had been Exec of the Second. He made a crucial decision as he watched. He shifted the whole two waves from Dog Green to Dog White where resistance seemed lighter and where, apparently, most of the 116thhad landed by mistake. To shift 1500 yards to the left when only a thousand yards from the beach was a problem the British did well. We didn't lose a single boat, we didn't get mixed up and as we came into touch down we still had perfect formation.
Schneider's wave hit first, we were minutes behind him and apparently to his right. By now the noise was deafening. An LCM or LCT was hit on our right by artillery and burst into flames. A minute or so later we were in the obstacles. LCI 91, 50 to 100 yards on our right was hit by artillery. The boat ground to a stop. The ramp dropped. Sullivan jumped out with me right behind him. The water wasn't as high as my boots.

Posted: July 16, 2011
Copyright: Laurent Lefebvre