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| Pvt. George Baragona, 82nd Airborne Division, landed near the Norman village of Graignes on D-Day. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/battle-of-graignes-an-hq-companys-heroic-last-stand-in-normandy/ |
George Strickle Baragona never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 24, 1919 in Louisiana. His parents Joseph and Clara were born in Louisiana and Mississippi, respectively. His father worked as a box factory laborer and later as a saw mill laborer. George had two older brothers, two older sisters, five younger brothers and one younger sister. By 1940 George had completed three years of high school (where he was a star on the basketball team) and was still living at home.
He was drafted into the army on May 29, 1941. At some point that year he heard about the new elite paratrooper regiments and volunteered to become a paratrooper. He became a private in the Service Company, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The 507th was sent to England in December 1943. When the 504th PIR was too mauled up from fighting in Italy, the 507th PIR took its place with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Pvt. Baragona boarded a C-47 transport on the evening of June 5, 1944 for an early morning drop into Normandy on D-Day. Distrupted by German Flak as they approached the coast of Normandy, the planes in Pvt. Baragona's group got disoriented and ended up dropping its paratroopers in the wrong location. 150 men were dropped 15 miles south of their planned drop zone, landing in marshes south of Carentan. The mislanded paratroopers congregated at the village of Graignes in the morning. The officers in command decided to hold their ground with their few dozen men, even though they were miles away from any other American units.
During the day, paratroopers and villagers retrieved ammunition and other supplies that had landed in the marshes north of town. The Americans were low on food so the Graignes villagers collected food for them. More misdropped soldiers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions joined the isolated troops in Graignes to reach a total of 182 men. For three days they saw no Germans, but the also saw no advancing Americans from Utah Beach. On June 12 the Germans arrived in force and overwhelmed the outnumbered paratroopers. Pvt. Baragona was either killed in action or he was executed by the Germans after he was captured. The Germans also executed many villagers for helping the Americans. Those who perpetrated these atrocities were never brought to justice after the war.
You can read a detailed account of the Battle of Graignes here: http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/battle-of-graignes-an-hq-companys-heroic-last-stand-in-normandy/
His grave is at Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Slidell, Louisiana. The date of June 6, 1944 is probably erroneous.
Last year on this date I profiled Silver Star hero Walter Nelson, 9th Infantry Division, Hurtgen Forest. You can read about Walter 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
Dear family of private Baragona, I am sorry that your family member, a member of the greatest generation, was killed in preserving our freedom. I am also sorry that you his loving family. Had to live the rest of your lives about him being with you all. God bless Private Baragona. And all of you
ReplyDeleteR.I.P.......SALUTE!!!
ReplyDeleteI take solace in knowing , that by the time this warrior had fallen, the enemy of Freedom was getting their butt sorely kicked by these American Citizen Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne. RIP Trooper
ReplyDelete