NOR004
First Legion
The 101
st Division landed in Normandy in the pre-dawn of June 6
th, 1944 but most groups missed their drop zones; spreading out the Division. After brief fighting by isolated pockets of men, the division consolidated and entered St. Come du Mont on June 8
th. They then fought for and won the causeways to Utah Beach on June 10
th. On June 12
th they attacked Carentan, driving out the German Fallschirmjagers. Carentan was not secure yet, and had to be defended against ferocious counterattacks to the southwest of the town by SS Panzergrenadiers of the 17
th Division and Fallschirmjagers supported by artillery fire on June 13
th in the Battle of Bloody Gulch. After days of hard fighting, the division was assigned the role of defending the left flank of VII corps and shortly after taken out of the line and sent to the operational reserve; having taken heavy casualties in men and material.
This paratrooper puts all the endless PT he endured to good use as he moves at top possible speed through a war zone.