Company G, 116th Infantry Regiment

Company G, 116th Infantry Regiment. . Federalized from Farmville, Virginia, on 3 February 1941, Company G, commanded by Captain Eccles H. Scott, was one of three companies of the 116th Intantry's Second Battalion to assault Omaha Beach in the first wave. Slated to land in Dog White sector between Company F (in Dog Red) and Company A (in Dog Green), Company G would cross the tidal flat through the obstacles and make an immediate attack inland on the German defenses. , , In the event, Company G's six boat sections came ashore scattered from the edge of Dog Red into Easy Green, a thousand yards east of their assigned sector and to the left of Company F. The error proved fortuitous, however, for naval shelling had set grass fires that masked the bluff with thick smoke. Thus screened, soldiers debarking the several landing craft nearest Dog Red managed to move halfway across the tidal flat before receiving ineffectual machinegun fire. Within a quarter-hour, most of the unit had reached the shingle bank intact. , , Unable to identify any landmarks, the officers concluded they had landed out of sector. Anticipating the inevitable, Company G's sections took positions abreast and by 0645 hours had organized to attack. Then down the line came this order: "G move to the right 1000 yards. You are left of your target." Attempting to comply in formation, the unit struggled westward along the crowded, chaotic beach, sacrificing both cover and concealment in the process. As the intensity and accuracy of defensive fires increased, the maneuvering sections intermingled or dissolved. Worse, the German artillery had bracketed the few seaborne tanks that managed to reach shore, and most of the soldiers trying to use them for cover became casualties. Despite the good order, unit cohesion, and strong leadership that had carried Company G to the shingle bank, the unit was all but neutralized in a trice. , , Trying to move west with the main body, one group of men drifted south, advancing up the hill in the vicinity of Hamel-au-Prêtre. Indecision and false starts prevented those thirty or so soldiers from rejoining the company until 1930 hours. Meanwhile, what remained of the depleted company continued west, meeting the Regimental Commander, Col. Charles D. Canham, near the Vierville draw. Already wounded in the arm and wrist, he rallied a makeshift assault force of soldiers from Companies F, G, and H and led them from the beach through the draw. The Canham melange joined a group of Rangers in heavy contact with the enemy, and together they pushed into Vierville. Colonel Canham then sent the soldiers from Company G to secure the chateau that became the regimental command post, where they dug in for the night. , , In tribute to the soldiers of FarmVille who served in company G, 116th Infantry Regiment. Given by the Town of Farmville, Virginia.