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Writer's pictureDon Milne

Every D-Day fallen has a story - 2,502 of them

Updated: May 25



The 2,502 Americans, who died in Normandy on June 6, 1944, were not able to participate in a celebratory parade thanking them.


More than 130 volunteers from more than three dozen states, as well as France and England, have written their stories. As you scroll below, passing like a parade, you can see a brief bio of a fallen flag bearer representing his state, a link to his full story, the count of fallen from that state, and a link to where you can find the other stories of the fallen from that state.


Note: Flags reflect version in use in 1945.


Alabama




"Band of Brother's" Easy Company, 101st Airborne Division

Plane shot down and burned after crashing

Husband, father, shipping clerk






45 D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Arizona




505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Parents both died before the war






12 Arizona D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Arkansas




Bronze Star recipient

359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division

Landed on Utah Beach, still missing in action







15 Arkansas D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


California




506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Killed during battle of Douve River

Joined army at age 15






85 California D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Colorado




506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Died during Brécourt Manor assault

Farmer, star high school basketball player, National Parks Service worker






19 Colorado D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Connecticut





Silver Star recipient

Medic, 1st Infantry Division

Textile mill worker






40 Connecticut D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Delaware





Glider copilot

Died in crash with 101st Airborne General Don Pratt

Husband, father, farmer






10 Delaware D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here on Fold3 and here on the Delaware's World War II Fallen website.


District of Columbia




506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Shot by German sniper

Father army colonel, West Point grad






12 District of Columbia D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Florida




81st AA Battalion, 101st Airborne Division

Died exiting landing craft on Utah Beach

Farmer with 10 siblings






20 Florida D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Georgia




502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Infantry Division

Evacuated after wounded, but killed by straffing enemy plane

Telegram messenger







47 Georgia D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Idaho





146th Engineer Combat Battalion

Never made it to Omaha Beach

Farmer







10 Idaho D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Illinois




12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

Died of wounds after blood transfusion

Parents from Yugoslavia, college grad, glass company salesman







121 Illinois D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Indiana




741st Tank Battalion

Floating DD tank sank before reaching Omaha Beach

Farmer, his nephew visited Omaha Beach 50 years later






82 Indiana D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Iowa





506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Accountant, nephew of British Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee





40 Iowa D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Kansas




149th Engineer Combat Team

Tasked with clearing path off of Omaha Beach

Brothers, farmers






35 Kansas D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Kentucky




LCI hit mine and sunk with Kelly in engine room

Garage mechanic, high school trumpet player






45 Kentucky D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Lousiana




397th AA Battalion

Shot disembarking from LCT

Cajun, seven siblings






33 Louisiana D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Maine





Medic, 1st Infantry Division

LCI hit below the water line and capsized






16 Maine D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Maryland




Field hospital surgeon, 29th Infantry Division

Parents from Italy, doctor, husband






39 Maryland D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Massachusetts





7th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Infantry Division

Jewish, born in Russia, lawyer, husband of woman from India, father







84 Massachusetts D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Michigan




Distinguished Flying Cross recipient

B-26 bombardier with 33 missions

Collided with other B-26

Only child, president of high school model airplane club







86 Michigan D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Minnesota




B-24 ball turret gunner

Crashed after running out of fuel

Worked at hatchery farm







41 Minnesota D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Mississippi




29th Field Artillery, 4th Infantry Division

LCT hit a mine and sunk

Farmer, 9 siblings, husband







23 Mississippi D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Missouri




Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division

Wounded on Omaha Beach and drowned

Youngest of 10 children, both parents died, law clerk, husband






45 Missouri D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Montana






505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division

Killed at Battle of La Fiere Bridge

Family furniture business, University of Wyoming graduate






11 Montana D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Nebraska





Silver Star Recipient

16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

Unit broke out of Omaha Beach

Husband and father, farmer









14 Nebraska D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Nevada




506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Plane shot down by flak

Husband, coal cleaner







3 Nevada D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


New Hampshire




325th Glider Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Attended University of New Hampshire







14 New Hampshire D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


New Jersey




502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Killed in doorway of plane when jumping

Parents were Jewish immigrants from Austria, washing machine salesman






115 New Jersey D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


New Mexico





B-24 bombardier on OSS mission flying supplies to underground forces

Wounded, captured, and died on Luftwaffe operating table

Parents from Austria-Hungary, husband and coal miner






11 New Mexico D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


New York




Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division

Only 18 of 230 members survived D-Day unscathed

Only child, chocolate company worker







310 New York D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


North Carolina





320th Barrage Balloon Battalion

Barrage balloons were set on beaches to stop German strafing

Husband, metal fabricator, every one of his brothers enlisted








39 North Carolina D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


North Dakota





Glider pilot

Glider shot down by flak

Husband and school teacher







7 North Dakota D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Ohio




101st Airborne Signal Corps

Glider crashed on landing







135 Ohio D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Oklahoma





Combat engineer tasked with clearing obstacles on Omaha Beach

Husband and father, ore hauler






35 Oklahoma D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Oregon





Company commander, Company B, 743rd Tank Battalion

Floatable DD tanks

Newspaperman







10 Oregon D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Pennsylvania





P-51 pilot shot down by flak

Attended Lehigh University






294 Pennsylvania D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Rhode Island






Company C, 2nd Ranger Battalion

Died leading men to Pointe du Hoc cliffs

Parents from Poland, meat market salesman






23 Rhode Island D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


South Carolina





Job was to clear obstacles on Omaha Beach

Husband, joined NCDU (forerunner of today's Navy Seals)







24 South Carolina D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


South Dakota





4th Mechanized Cavalry Group, which captured Isles Saint-Marcouf, off Utah Beach

Joined army after Germany invaded Norway

Norway born, gas station attendant







4 South Dakota D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Tennessee




506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

Plane shot down, all lost

Parents and sister died while he was young. Worked as a coal miner and textile worker.






37 Tennessee D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Texas




Combat engineer to clear obstacles on Omaha Beach

Cotton farmer, football end






100 Texas D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Utah




16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

His Company L lost a third of its men on D-Day

Namesake nephew was killed in the Vietnam War







5 Utah D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Vermont




505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Parents immigrated from Italy and France







5 Vermont D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Virginia





4042nd Quartermaster Truck Company

Truck driver in the first wave of trucks to land on Omaha Beach. The trucks were tempting targets and only one-third made it to the beach.

Husband and prewar farmer and truck driver.







184 Virginia D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Washington




Navy Cross Recipient

USS LIC (L) 415

Saved at least four soldiers drowning or wounded and killed while rescuing a wounded soldier.

Husband, volunteered for Navy the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.







18 Washington D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


West Virginia




Elite Counter Intelligence Corps, assigned to 101st Airborne Division

Husband and prewar math teacher. Widow never remarried.








48 West Virginia D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Wisconsin





507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

Hitztaler landed near a German command post and was captured after a short fire fight. After being interrogated by the Germans, Hitztaler and the other Americans with him were executed.

Father immigrated from Austria. Anthony worked for a coal company.








44 Wisconsin D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here


Wyoming





Bronze Star recipient

Radio operator, 116th Infantry Regiment HQ Company, 29th Infantry Division

Husband and prewar fireman.







5 Wyoming D-Day Fallen

Find their stories here




Thanks to Ancestry.com and its subsidiaries Newspapers.com and Fold3.com for providing free research access to many of our writers. Thanks to MyHeritage.com for providing significant financial support for this project. Thanks to The National D-Day Memorial for providing us with their list of the D-Day fallen.


The D-Day fallen project was managed by volunteers Emily Ritter of Indiana and Jenna Rabtzow of Colorado. Many thanks for their countless hours in completing something that has never been done before.

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