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| Pvt. Clifton Lee, 29th Infantry Division was in the first wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day, commemorated at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56646817&ref=acom https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/national-d-day-memorial-set-to-mark-70th-anniversary-of-wwii-normandy-landings-1.286562#.WYTShcaZNmA |
Clifton G. Lee never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 17, 1917 in Virginia. His parents were also both born in Virginia. His father worked as a farmer. Clifton had five older brothers (including one named Robert E. Lee) and two older sisters. He also had one younger sister. By 1940 Clifton had completed six years of education and was working as a spinner and also served in the National Guard. It was a popular thing to do among the underemployed young men in Bedford, Virginia since it paid them $1 a day - much needed money in a rural town still suffering from the lingering effects of the Great Depression.
On February 3, 1941 Clifton's National Guard unit was activated in the regular army. He became a private in Company A, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. 34 other men from Bedford were also in the 1st Battalion, most in Company A.
The 29th Infantry Division arrived in England at the early date of September 1942. Other units were sent to fight in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, but the 29th Infantry Division stayed in England, training for 21 months and then being selected to be the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day at section Dog Green, June 6, 1944. Company A was the tip of the spear -- its men went in on the very first wave divided among seven landing craft.
Pvt. Lee was likely on the same landing craft with Company A commander Captain Taylor Fellers (also from Bedford), a total of 30 men. As soon as the ramp went down Pvt. Lee and the others surged for the beach. The pre-landing bombing and naval bombardment did nothing to take out the enemy in this sector. They faced at least three German MG-42 machine guns that fired more than 1,000 rounds per minute and at least two dozen snipers. All 30 men, including Pvt. Lee, were killed within yards of each other.
By the end of D-Day only 18 of Company A's 230 men were unhurt. The small 3,200 strong community of Bedford lost 22 men in Normandy, 19 on D-Day. It was the greatest loss per size of home town from all of the war. The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford commemorates this sacrifice.
His grave is at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France along side many of the other Bedford Boys.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY. Now more than 200 fallen have been profiled with more than 200,000 visits. Is there interest in seeing a video highlighting those from the group of second 100?
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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