George C. ARSENAULT

Single

Parents : René ARSENAULT  (Canadian origin)

Source : Andy

 CEMTERY TEMPORARY of  Draguignan N°3519

Story of Cemetery Temporary 

Map of Rhône American Cemetery

Arsenault on left

Source : Andy

Can't tell from B&W pics but supposedly a red head

Source : Andy

Sergeant George C Arsenault, born 22 Nov 1924, was the 5th of 15 children of Rene and Alice (Gallant) Arsenault of Rumford, Oxford County, Maine. Rumford is 74 miles north of Portland.

His parents were both Canadian.
In the 1930 census 5-year-old George is living with his parents and siblings Irene 13, Denis 12, Evangeline 8, Beatrice 7, Theresa 3, Paul 2, Rene 1, and newborn Charles, at 119 Washington Street in Rumford. His father is a millwright (carpenter who works with steel) at a paper mill.
In the 1940 census 14-year-old George is living with his parents and siblings Denis 22, Evangeline 19, Beatrice 17, Paul 12, Rene 11, Charles 10, Robert 8, Eugene 7, Raymond 4, and Alice 2, still at 119 Washington Street in Rumford. His father is still a millwright at the paper mill.
George enlisted 8 Sep 1943 at Portland. He'd had two years of high school and was single without dependents. One article said he had red hair. He was ultimately assigned to the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry "Rock of the Marne" Division.
On 15 Aug 1944 the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division landed at Red Beach about 2000 meters to the west of Cavalaire-sur-Mer and the peninsula which overlooks the entire beach.

Source : Liz Lafont

The NARA WWII casualty listings by state and county for Maine show Arsenault, George C, Sgt from Oxford County as killed in action 15 Aug 1944. Eight days before he died, Arsenault wrote a letter to one of his sisters, asking her to have have his siblings pray for him as he prepared to lead a dozen men into the next campaign, and for her to notify two girls in town if anything happened to him.

The 7th IR encountered strong opposition along Highway 98 east of La Mole from a strong point with 6 or 8 machineguns and three Anti-tank guns covering a wire-and-mine roadblock. The strong point was not taken until the following day.
George's US WWII Hospital Admission Card File says he died of a bullet to the abdomen. Military Branch: Infantry, General or Unspecified.

Diagnosis: First Location: Abdomen, generally; Causative Agent: Bullet, Missile Not Stated. Type of Injury: Casualty, battle. Injured in Line of Duty: In line of duty.

Type of Discharge: Died.

Service Number: 31398687.

By : Andy

Source : marykake47286

3^rd INFANTRY DIVISION - ROCK OF THE MARNE

Activated/Activé	Normandy/Normandie
12 Nov 1917	Days of Combat/Jour de Combat  531
	Casualties/Victimes 25 977
Entered Combat/Entré au combat
8 Nov 1942 North Africa
Commanding Generals/Commandants généraux Maj. Gen. Charles F. Thompson (Jul 40 - Aug 41) Brig. Gen. Charles P. Hall (Aug 41 - Sep 41) Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas (Sep 41 - Mar 42) Maj. Gen. Jonathan W. Anderson (Mar 42 - Mar 43) Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. (Mar 43 - Feb 44) Maj. Gen. John W. O'Daniel (Feb 44 - Dec 45) Maj. Gen. William R. Schmidt (Jul 45 - Aug 46)	Campaigns/Campagnes Tunisia (17 Nov 42 - 13 May 43) Sicily (9 Jul - 17 Aug 43) Naples-Foggia (9 Sep 43 - 21 Jan 44) Anzio (22 Jan 44 - 24 May 44) Rome-Arno (22 Jan 44 - 9 Sep 44) Southern France (15 Aug 44 - 14 Sep 44) Rhineland (15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45) Central Europe (22 Mar 45 - 11 May 45)
PLAN DE ROUTE DE LA CAMPAGNE de MEDITERANNEE - CAMPAIGN ROUTE MAP
DIVISION CHRONICLE The 3d Division is the only American Division which fought the Nazi on all fronts. The Division first saw action in the North African invasion, landing at Fedala, 8 November 1942, and capturing half of French Morocco. On 10 July 1943, the Division made an assault landing on Sicily, fought its way into Palermo before the armor could get there, and raced on to capture Messina, thus ending the Sicilian campaign. Nine days after the Italian invasion, 18 September 1943, the 3d landed at Salerno and in intensive action drove to and across the Volturno and to Cassino. After a brief rest, the Division was ordered to hit the beaches at Anzio, 22 January 1944, where for 4 months it maintained its toe-hold against furious German counterattacks. On 29 February 1944, the 3d fought off an attack by three German Divisions. In May the Division broke out of the beachhead and drove on to Rome, and then went into training for the invasion of Southern France. On 15 August 1944, another D-day, the Division landed at St. Tropez, advanced up the Rhone Valley, through the Vosges Mountains, and reached the Rhine at Strasbourg, 26-27 November. After maintaining defensive positions it took part in clearing the Colmar Pocket, 23 January18 February 1945, and on 15 March struck against Siegfried Line positions south of Zweibrucken. The Division smashed through the defenses and crossed the Rhine, 26 March 1945 ; then drove on to take Nurnberg in a fierce battle, capturing the city in block-by-block fighting, 17-20 April. The 3d pushed on to take Augsburg and Munich, 27-30 April, and was in the vicinity of Salzburg when the war in Europe ended.	CHRONIQUE DE DIVISION La 3ème division est la seule division américaine à avoir combattu les nazis sur tous les fronts. La Division a été la première à intervenir lors de l’invasion nord-africaine, atterrissant à Fedala le 8 novembre 1942 et capturant la moitié du Maroc français. Le 10 juillet 1943, la Division effectue un assaut en Sicile, se fraye un chemin jusqu'à Palerme avant que l’armure puisse y arriver et se lance à la conquête de Messine, mettant ainsi fin à la campagne sicilienne. Neuf jours après l’invasion italienne, le 18 septembre 1943, la 3D a atterri à Salerno et, dans une action intense, elle a traversé le Volturno et Cassino. Après un bref repos, la division reçut l’ordre de frapper les plages d’Anzio, le 22 janvier 1944, où elle resta en garde pendant quatre mois contre les contre-attaques allemandes. Le 29 février 1944, le 3ème combat contre une attaque de trois divisions allemandes. En mai, la division sortit de la tête de pont et se rendit à Rome avant de se préparer à l'invasion du sud de la France. Le 15 août 1944, un autre jour J, la Division débarqua à Saint-Tropez, remonta la vallée du Rhône, traversa les Vosges et atteignit le Rhin à Strasbourg les 26 et 27 novembre. Après avoir maintenu des positions défensives, elle a participé au déblaiement de la poche de Colmar, le 23 janvier 18 février 1945, et le 15 mars, elle a frappé les positions de la ligne Siegfried au sud de Zweibrucken. La division défonça dans les défenses et traversa le Rhin le 26 mars 1945; puis a continué à prendre Nurnberg dans une bataille féroce, capturant la ville dans des combats de bloc par bloc, 17-20 avril. La 3d se poursuit à Augsbourg et à Munich, du 27 au 30 avril, et se trouve à proximité de Salzbourg à la fin de la guerre en Europe.