Thursday, 6/6

75 years ago today the largest military invasion in American history began. It's been written about in books and magazines, dramatized in movies & TV shows, and has even inspired a series of trips to Europe by my lovely wife to research those men from Marquette County who died during or immediately following the landings in Normandy.

So today and tomorrow, I'm going to share two of those stories. Stories that began in Upper Michigan but ended a quarter of the way around the world, helping liberate a country from the grasp of tyranny. Today? The only person living in Marquette County to actually die on the beaches.

William Richards was born in Virginia, Minnesota, graduated from the Michigan College of Technology and Mining, and, in 1940, was working for Cleveland Cliffs at the same time he was a lieutenant in the 107^th National Guard Combat Engineering Battalion in Ishpeming. He had been married to a Negaunee girl--Mary Archibald--for two months, when the battalion was called up for a year of active duty. World War II then started, and that one year became “for the duration”.

The 107^th was shuttled around various camps in the U.S., and headed overseas in 1942, where Richards eventually attained the rank of Major. The invasion of Europe was on the horizon, and Richards’ battalion would be given one of the most dangerous of assignments--to clear the invasion beaches of mines, obstacles, and booby traps laid by the Nazis.

The 107^th was going in with the first wave of troops.

Now, if you’ve seen “Saving Private Ryan”, you get a pretty good idea of what the first wave had to face. That did not seem to daunt Richards and his engineers, especially when you read what was written about his actions in a Distinguished Service Cross citation he posthumously received--

“Major Richards landed with the initial assault waves under heavy enemy artillery, machine gun and rifle fire. He immediately effected the removal of barbed wire by directing the operations of a tank dozer, preceding it on foot under heavy small arms fire. After removing this obstacle, he personally reconnoitered inland to find the exact position of an enemy gun which was harassing troops and equipment at the entrance of one of the beach exits. After locating this gun, he made his way back to the beach and reported its location. He then proceeded to organize the units of his battalion for aggressive action against the enemy on the cliffs."

The hill Major Richards was attempting to take when he was killed.

The report continued, "Though wounded, Major Richards again proceeded to a beach exit to direct the efforts of the mine clearing and obstacle removing parties. While organizing these parties, he was killed by enemy fire. The courage and devotion to duty exhibited by Major Richards reflects great credit upon himself and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces.”

This is Major Richards’ final resting place, at the Normandy American Cemetery, on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, in St. Laurent sur Mer, France--

Aside from his wife in Ishpeming, Richards left a 2-year old daughter. He was the highest ranking individual from Marquette County to be killed during World War II.

Tomorrow, the story of Marquette paratrooper who made it through the first day of the invasion.

(jim@wmqt.com)

(ps—on a wildly different note, don't forget to vote for which picture goes on my notebook desktop. Scroll down to Tuesday's entry for the pics and the process).