Edward Louis BRIANT
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Source : Jérôme Perrier
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NUMBER OF SERVICE | O 1018045 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
AGE | 20 yo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE OF BIRTH | 30 April 924 Itasca County, MINNESOTA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
ENLISTMENT STATE | MINNESOTA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FAMILY |
Parents : Philip & Rose BRIANT | |||||||||||||||||||||||
RANK | Second Lieutenant | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FONCTION | Paratroopers - Platoon Leader | |||||||||||||||||||||||
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Actor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 13 June1942 Fort Snelling MINNESOTA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
COMPANY | Company F | |||||||||||||||||||||||
BATTALION | Battalion | |||||||||||||||||||||||
REGIMENT | 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DIVISION | 101st Airborne Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE OF DEATH | 6 June 1944 |
Source : Dominique Potier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
STATUS | KIA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
PLACE OF DEATH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Edward Louis Briant was born April 30, 1924 to Philip and Rose Waetzig Briant in Itasca County, Minnesota. Older Brother Phil W. Briant was a Staff Sargeant in the Army Air Force. |
Source : Jérôme Perrier
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From an article on www.dday.org: “On 5 June 1944 the 502nd Parachute Infantry left the departure airdromes for the invasion of France. The landing was to be made on the Cotentin Peninsula south of Cherbourg in the vicinity of Saint Martin de Varreville. The first Battalion in 36 planes and the remainder of the regiment in 81 planes left Membury and Greenham Common Airfield respectively. All was airborne by 2330 and the serials began marshaling at their rendezvous for the trip To France. These were by far the most important minutes in the lives of all the men but in no way did they betray the fears that any of them might have had regarding the dangers that would beset them in the next few hours. They were cheerful and at ease– discussing the visit of General Eisenhower who had come down to see them off– talking about Bill Lee–reading General Montgomery’s letter. There was no fearful tenseness that might be expected. Each man had a job and he knew what the job was. Everyone was eager to get in and pitch. We crossed the channel and turned left on our approach leg about 0030. The coast of France loomed up through the light fog that had come to make things a little disagreeable for us. At 0048 the red light came on and jumpmasters electrified into action. “Stand in the door”– crowd forward– reach forward—listen—tense– excited now. Red light! “Let’s go Bill Lee!” [NOTE: General William Lee, often called the Father of the US Airborne, had commanded the 101st Airborne since it’s activation in 1942. The beloved commander almost certainly would have been one of the first to hit the ground in France on D-Day. However, a heart attack forced him to return stateside in 1943. In his tribute, the 502nd took his name as their rally cry.] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
With the cry of “Bill Lee” the 502nd Parachute Infantry hit the silk and ascended like Hitler’s doom on occupied France. The jump was widely scattered covering an area of 7.25 x 8 miles. The first serial jumped at 0053 and the subsequent serials a short time after. All the planes met considerable flak and machine gun fire and the descending troopers were fired on by small arms and automatic weapons. Many chutists landed within or near strong points and enemy gun positions; some were in the inundated area; on housetops; in trees; many never got their chutes off they were found later, hanging in the webbing, never having fired a shot. The bulk of the regiment, however, found opposition varied with the locality. In some places the enemy had a definite plan of defense, but by and large the resistance was not coordinated. The enemy generally stayed in their positions and fired indiscriminately at every noise and shadow. Machine gun emplacements at important road intersections were quickly liquidated but in the initial action did cause some casualties. Commanders of all grades began gathering all available personnel in the vicinity and proceeded to the objectives. The gun position at Saint Martin de Varreville was taken by 0400. |
Source : Jérôme Perrier
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Part of the force was then sent to causeways #3 and #4 and by 0600 these were under our control. During the ensuing few hours isolated groups of the regiment fought in numerable skirmishes and battles. A large portion of the Second Battalion engage the enemy at Turqueville, France, and fought there for four hours until enemy reinforcements forced them to withdraw. By 1200 elements of the fourth division began passing through the third Battalion area (causeways). these included portions of the 8th and 22nd infantries. They were organized and didn’t look too tired. They reported unofficially that the beaches and causeways were all clear and that landing hadn’t been too hard a job. All of them sincerely appreciated our being there and the assistance that we had given their landings. By : michelinesmith387(Fold3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
101st AIRBORNE DIVISION - SCREAMING EAGLES
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SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Jérome Perrier - Findagrave.com - Abmc.gov - Aad.archives.gov - Airborneinnormandy.com - michelinesmith387(Fold3) - ww2-airborne.us |
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PROGRAMMER | Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |