| U.S. Army 29th Infantry Division, 116th Infantry Regiment, Headquarters Company PFC Oliver J. Hammond 35166770 Killed In Action - June 6th 1944, Normandy France Buried: Unknown |
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| Grave marker, above photo. Temporary graves were marked with a simple wooden cross with an identification plate attached to the center. Once a permanent stone marker could be erected, the original wooden cross would be removed and destroyed by incineration. This grave plate was found in France at the site of the temporary marker destruction area. The serial number on this plate is mis-marked as 3516770. The correct service number for PFC Oliver J. Hammond is 35166770. |
| HISTORY OF OLIVER J. HAMMOND Oliver J. Hammond was from Vanderburgh County, Indiana. He was Killed-in-Action (KIA) while serving with the Headquarters Company, 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division on June 6th 1944 during the invasion of Normandy Frnace. |
| Grave markers Normandy American Cemetery Colleville-sur-Mer, France, above photo. Temporary graves were marked with a simple wooden cross with an identification plate attached to the center as shown in the above photo. This photo was taken behind Omaha Beach in 1951 by Life Magazine, 6 years after World War Two at what is now known as the Normandy American Cemetery Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Permanent stone markers were added several years later. |
| HISTORY OF THE 116TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 29TH INFANTRY DIVISION The 116th Infantry Regiment entered service as a National Guard unit from Virginia on February 3rd 1941 with the 29th Infantry Division. The division trained throughout the year at Fort Meade, Maryland until September 13, when it moved to temporarily to Fort A.P. Hill and then Fort Bragg, North Carolina on September 27th 1941. The division went on to reorganize again at Fort Meade, Maryland on March 12th 1942 after the United States entry into World War Two. The 116th Infantry Regiment continued to train for the next six months before being ordered to deploy to the staging area at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. The 116th along with the rest of the 29th Infantry Division boarded the Queen Mary on September 26th 1942, bound for Scotland. After a short stay in Scotland, the division moved to Slapton Sands, England in May 1943 where the conducted amphibious training operations. On June 6th 1944, the 116th Infantry Regiment invaded Normandy France for Operation Overlord. Four companies: A, E, F and G were responsible for the Omaha Beach sector of the Normandy coast. "A" Company was the first to land on Omaha Beach, sustaining 96% casualties within the first 10 minutes. |
