laststandonzombieisland

Thirty-two original members of Company A, 8th Infantry Regiment “Fighting Eagles,” 4th “Ivy” Division, assembled for a group photo in Normandy. The company had hit Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, with 190 men.

By mid-July, the men shown were all who remained.

As noted in the Combat Chronicle for the Division, “The 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division was one of the first Allied units to hit the beaches at Normandy on D-day, 6 June 1944. Relieving the isolated 82d Airborne Division at Ste. Mere Eglise, cleared the Cotentin peninsula and took part in the capture of Cherbourg, on 25 June. After taking part in the fighting near Periers, 6-12 July, the Division broke through the left flank of the German Seventh Army, helped stem the German drive toward Avranches, and by the end of August had moved to Paris, assisting the French in the liberation of their capital.”

Suffering 35,545 total casualties in 299 days of combat from D-Day to VE-Day, the 4th ID saw 252.3 percent of its authorized strength logged as killed, wounded, or missing while in the ETO.

Formed in 1838, the 8th Infantry Rgt predates the 4th ID by 79 years, and their motto is “Patriae Fidelitas” (“Loyalty to Country”). Their 1st and 2nd battalions are still active and are still part of the 4th ID, based at Fort Carson, Colorado.