James Lynch reunites with Vierville, thirty-nine years after the Landing

Thirty-nine years after the landing, James Lynch returned to the beach of Omaha for the first time. Accompanied by his wife, he was welcomed at the Château de Vierville by Mrs. Hausermann, surrounded by her family.

The newspaper reports that he landed on June 6, 1944, at the age of twenty-one. Corporal, he commanded eight men; only three had reached the beach, the others having been killed by a shell. It belonged to the personnel of the 11th Port, whose headquarters was at the Château de Vierville, and was responsible for unloading ships in its area.

He said he slept very little during the first forty-eight hours: between two unloadings of barges, he picked up the dead. Men first lived on their rations and their gourd. Orders gave priority to ammunition, combat vehicles and drugs; goods deemed less urgent, including food, were pushed back to clear the beach quickly.

James Lynch was then able to sleep in a blockhouse. As the front moved away, tents and a kitchen were set up. He was later sent to Rouen, where he had stayed for a year to organize the unloading of ships intended to supply the front with weapons and ammunition.

On this return, Mr. and Mrs. Lynch lived near Chicago and had eight children. Secretary of the Association of Former Veterans of the 11th Port, he wanted to prepare a trip of his comrades to Vierville for the fortieth anniversary of the Landing. He discussed this project with Mr. Hardelay on a Saturday evening in the castle park.

Reconstructed or uncertain passages:
- The cut locates the landing of James Lynch in the late afternoon while bearing the mention "D + 22 hours". These indications are not harmonized or converted into a specific time.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/Photos2008/1983VisiteLynchjuillet83.jpg