A plaque for the soldiers of the 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion

On a Saturday afternoon, a plaque commemorating the action of the 81st American Chemical Mortar Battalion during the Landing of June 6, 1944 was inaugurated outside the church of Vierville. Flag bearers, civilian personalities and military authorities joined the road from Formigny to Vierville, at the foot of the church.

After the national hymns and an invocation from Dean Tourquetil, serving the parish, Mr. Oxéant, mayor of Vierville, took the floor. Dr. Castello, a former member of the battalion, Kasten Mayer, Brigadier general of the American forces at NATO, then Commander Hausman, also a former member of the 81st, succeeded him. The latter unveiled the plaque dedicated to soldiers who died for freedom. A blessing and the laying of wreaths followed.

The newspaper recalled that the four battalion companies had supported the regimental teams on Omaha, under incessant enemy fire, to establish a bridgehead. He indicated that the unit had then fought almost without interruption until the end of the war, alongside the First and Third Armies, and had lost two hundred and two men for a number of less than a thousand.

Among those present were Rivers, superintendent of the American cemetery; Jouet, vice-president of the general council; the mayors of the neighboring municipalities and the municipal councilors of Vierville; Ribet, cantonal president of veterans; Lieutenant-Colonel Gezequel, of the 32nd military division; Major Breynes, of the Bayeux gendarmerie; and Chief Warrant Officer Tougard, chief of the Trévières firefighters. Several veterans and many residents showed their attachment to the memory of the Landing.

A wine of honor at the communal hall of the beach ended the ceremony.

Reconstructed or uncertain passages:
- The end of the sentence on the First and Third Armies and part of the transition to the veterans are cut at the bottom of the column. The loss figures are those reported by the newspaper.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/Photos2008/1983-Stele81ChemMortBon-17sept83.jpg