RIP Olen Hill Howard Jr. | 1925-2016
B Co – 8th Infantry Regiment
4th Infantry Division
Olen Hill Howard Jr. took part in the Normandy landings by storming Utah beach in the Cotentin region on D-Day, alongside his comrades of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He took part in the Battle of Normandy in northern Cotentin, helped liberate Cherbourg and then entered Paris – the 4th Infantry Division was the first American unit to enter the French capital. During the fearsome Battle of the Bulge, the 4th Infantry Division held out against violent German counter-offensives and in January 1945, American soldiers pushed the German forces back to the other side of the Rhine. It was on the banks of the Rhine that Olen was wounded, earning him his ticket back to the United States. He had been awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
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