Four men from the same tiny Kansas school were among those who died in their ship’s hold when it struck a mine off Normandy on its way to Omaha Beach on D-Day.
Several young men who had been on the 1940-41 basketball team at Bushong Rural High School in Kansas — William Moreland, far left, middle row; Rex Gore, third from left; Jay Moreland, fourth from left; and John Herrick, fifth from left — were killed on D-Day when their ship hit a German mine and caught fire. Landing craft 92 had left the English Channel port of Weymouth on the evening of June 5, 1944, and now, in the early hours of June 6, it was steaming in darkness for the coast of France.
Their remains had been exhumed from the Normandy American Cemetery near Omaha Beach in 2021, as part of an ongoing project to account for the missing from World War II.Experts from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency , which searches for missing service members, and from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System made the identifications using DNA comparisons and other tools.
They were part of an Allied armada of some 5,000 ships, carrying about 150,000 men, that was preparing to free Western Europe from the grip of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Among those with them were Joseph Borysiewicz, 23, a steelworker from Gary, Ind., and the son of Polish immigrants; Hiram H. Collins, 25, of Crisfield, Md., whose mother had been in the state legislature; and James Lee Harrington, 21, from the small coal mining community of Cincinnati, in southern Iowa.
The soldiers tried to get off the ship, but the hostile fire was too heavy on one side, and the water was more than four feet deep on the other.Salmon, the skipper, wrote, “All troops going over the side were advised to forget their packs and take only their rifles and ammunition.” News of the D-Day tragedies slowly filtered back to Bushong and to other towns that had sent their sons to the war.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Normandy family serves farmhouse cider, plus D-Day history, from medieval castle at Omaha BeachThe Bernard Lebrec family farmhouse distillery sits between D-Day battle sites Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc. It serves reminders today of Normandy cuisine and military history.
Read more »
Pollution closes Imperial Beach, parts of Coronado Beach Memorial Day weekendPerla was born and raised in Orange County, went to UC Berkeley for her Bachelors, and worked in Bakersfield for her first job as a multimedia journalist.
Read more »
Best beach wagons for Memorial Day weekend and beyondTransport your beach essentials comfortably this Memorial Day weekend with the best beach wagons of 2024.
Read more »
The 11 Best Online Meat Delivery Services for Memorial Day Grilling: ButcherBox, Omaha Steaks and MoreAll the best subscription and delivery boxes for meats, so you can serve the best burgers and wings on Memorial Day.
Read more »
The Best Online Meat Delivery Services for Memorial Day Grilling: ButcherBox, Omaha Steaks and MoreAll the best subscription and delivery boxes for meats, so you can serve the best burgers and wings on Memorial Day.
Read more »
Sparks move home game against Caitlin Clark and Indiana from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles'Full Court Press' is a four-part docuseries by Omaha Productions.
Read more »