| HOME ABOUT US UNIFORM & EQUIPMENT HISTORY EVENT PICTURES FUTURE EVENTS BOOKS HEROES LANDINGCRAFT CONTACTS LINKS |
| Tech 5. Donald H. Weisel 16th Infantry Regiment |
| TEC5 Donald H. Weisel, 33137394, is interred in the Normandy American Cemetery in Plot J, Row 6, Grave 5. SILVER STAR, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART At the time of his death June 6, 1944, TEC5 Weisel was a member of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division. ACTIVITY DURING WWII NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGNS AND INVASION OF NORMANDY AT OMAHA BEACH. Twenty minutes after Company G and the rest of the first wave hit the beach; the 16th Regiment's headquarters unit approached the sand. But in the chaos, the landing craft had managed to stray off course, and when the boat‘s ramp dropped, it did so a couple hundred yards directly in front of a German machine gun. The German machine gunner must have had his finger on the trigger because as soon as the men in the landing craft were exposed, it opened fire into their midst. Thirty-five men were killed before they got out of the boat. "We landed in the wrong place and were pinned down for an hour," says James Lapinski of Roanoke, Va., the regiment’s historian. "They were killing us off like mad". Among the early fatalities was Donald Weisel of Allentown. Machine gun fire practically ripped him in two. Lapinski says the slug wounds ran up Weisel’s leg and across his chest. Lapinski says nothing could be done for Weisel but make him as comfortable as possible. He found the photograph Weisel carried of his wife, Elizabeth, and placed it in the young man‘s hands. "He just sat there for a while, looking at the picture, until he died," says Lapinski. |
Special Thanks to Donalds Nephew Gregg S. Heilman for this information.
Son of T/Sgt. Ray A. Heilman
11 TH F. A. 1937-40
Schofield Barracks
11 TH BGH 42 Sq.1940-45
Hickman 12/7/1941
AAC Armorer 911
P.U.C.1942
Son of T/Sgt. Ray A. Heilman
11 TH F. A. 1937-40
Schofield Barracks
11 TH BGH 42 Sq.1940-45
Hickman 12/7/1941
AAC Armorer 911
P.U.C.1942