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| Staff Sergeant Marvin Fomby was killed in action when the 8th Infantry Division was capturing Brest. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42815172/jesse-marvin-fomby https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/caught-in-the-crosshairs/ |
Jesse Marvin Fomby never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on February 23, 1919 in Bernice, Louisiana. His parents William and Bertha were also both born in Louisiana. His father worked as a farmer. Marvin had two younger brothers and four younger sisters. By 1940 Marvin had completed three years of high school and was working on the family farm.
Marvin had two uncles who also both lost their lives in the war. Earlier this year I profiled Clifton Fomby and his brother Odis. I noticed that they were also from Louisiana, so I did some additional research and discovered that they were related.
Marvin was drafted into the army on October 7, 1941. He became a staff sergeant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. The 8th ID arrived at Utah Beach on July 4, 1944. Sgt. Fomby was wounded in Normandy and was sent to England to recuperate. He was sent back to his unit in time to participate in the attack on the important port of Brest that began in mid-August.
It would take nearly a month and a half for the Americans to wrest Brest from the Germans at the cost of nearly 10,000 casualties. On September 16, an 8th ID intelligence section, while searching prisoners, found a map showing all the enemy artillery positions and the complete defense plans. The Americans were able to use the information to destroy all the German artillery and bypass German strongpoints. It was too late for Sgt. Fomby who died that day. The city was pretty much secured the next day.
His grave is at Shiloh Cemetery in Bernice, Louisiana.
Last year on this date I profiled Ray Kessler, 85th Infantry Division. You can read about Ray here.
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!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
Thank you for your service and dedication to our country. R.I.P
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