Company B, 116th Infantry Regiment

Called up from Lynchburg, Virginia, as one of the twelve letter companies in the 29th Infantry Division's 116th Infantry Regiment, Company B, under Captain Ettore V. Zappacosta, was scheduled to land on the Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach by H+30 and reinforce Company A near the Vierville exit. In poor light and rough seas, the six assault landing craft transporting the company could not spot the landmarks meant to guide them, and outgoing rocket fire further disrupted the landing, scattering troops from three craft over a mile left and right of the center of Dog Green. Elements of two boat teams were pinned down at the seawall west of the les Moulins exit, while the craft landing closest to their intended positions suffered immediate disaster: one was destroyed before lowering its ramp, another unloaded men into water over many soldiers' heads, and a third came under accurate German fire on the tidal flat. In the Dog Green sector, the new wave became intermingled with the shattered remains of Company A and with Company C of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, which had also taken heavy casualties. Delaying its assault on Pointe de la Percée, the Ranger company joined Company B troops to neutralize the enemy strongpoint that had nearly stalled the invasion, an action that reflected the high quality of both units' training and made an invaluable contribution to opening the beach for later waves. Because of its National Guard origins, Company B included many Virginians on D-Day. Few of its soldiers escaped the day unwounded, many were killed, including eleven men from Lynchburg, and the company's decorations included the Presidential Unit Citation and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Bedford, Virginia · United States