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Rene A. CROTEAU
"Punchy"
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| NUMBER OF SERVICE | 11107445 | ||||||
| AGE | 27 yo | ||||||
| DATE OF BIRTH | 26 July 1916 Holyoke | ||||||
| ETAT | Hampden MASSACHUSETTS | ||||||
| FAMILY | Single | ||||||
| RANK | Private First Class | ||||||
| FONCTION | Paratrooper | ||||||
| JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Shipping and receiving clerks |  | |||||
| DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 28 November 1942 Springfield MASSACHUSETTS | ||||||
| COMPANY | Company I | ||||||
| REGIMENT | 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment | ||||||
| DIVISION | 82nd Airborne Division | ||||||
| DATE OF DEATH | 4 July 1944 |  | |||||
| STATUS | KIA | ||||||
| PLACE OF DEATH | La Haye-du-Puits | ||||||
| DATA PLAN | |||||||
| CEMETERY TEMPORARY |
CEMTERY TEMPORARY of -- N°--
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| CEMETERY | NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY of Colleville | ||||||
| GRAVE |
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| DECORATION |
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| STORY | |||||||
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Born in 1916, Pfc. Rene A. “Punchy” CROTEAU was a semi-pro baseball player from Holyoke, Mass., He entered the armed forces on November 28, 1942 to serve with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82ndAirborne Division. He and his regiment were stationed in England in 1944 in preparation for D-Day. | |||||||
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On June 6, 1944, Croteau, along with 24,000 Allied paratroopers, hoped to land near their planned landing zones in Normandy. The 508thParachute Infantry Regiment’s main strategic objective was Sainte-Mère-Église. With control of the town, the Americans could secure the crossings at the Merderet River and establish a defensive line north from Neuville-au-Plain to Breuzeville-au-Plain. Sainte-Mère-Église would be the first French town liberated by Americans in World War II. Like most parachute units that night, many troopers were dropped in the wrong locations and found it difficult to link up with each other. Some were successful in meeting up with their units while others were lost, drowned in the marshes, or taken prisoner. |
508th Baseball team The 508th Red Devils baseball team, taken in England in 1944 before the invasion of Normandy. Pfc. Rene A. "Punchy" CROTEAU is kneeling on the far right. | ||||||
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Men of the 508th Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, make a last minute check of their equipment before taking off from an airfield in Saltby, England for Normandy. |
CROTEAU survived his nighttime drop of June 6, and continued to fight through the area over the following few weeks. Along the way, Croteau became fast friends with a 15-year-old French boy. The boy, wanting to join his new friends in the fight, pieced together an 82ndAirborne uniform to wear and marched alongside Croteau. | ||||||
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On July 4, 1944 CROTEAU’s ‘I’ Company was advancing toward La Haye-du-Puits on Hill 95 when the Germans opened fire. Croteau was killed instantly. In an attempt to drag Croteau to safety, the French boy ran out onto the field only to be killed himself by German bullets. |
Monument to the 82nd Airborne and 90th U.S. Infantry Division on Hill 95 where Croteau was killed on July 4, 1944. | ||||||
 | Monument to the 82nd Airborne and 90th U.S. Infantry Division on Hill 95 where Pfc. CROTEAU was killed on July 4, 1944. | ||||||
| SOURCE INFORMATION & PHOTO | Aad.archives.gov - findagrave.com - Abmc.nomadmobileguides.com - Denis VAN DEN BRINK - Henri ROGISTER |
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| PROGRAMMER | Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |