| Original Caption: Down the ramp of a Coast Guard Landing barge Yankee soldiers storm toward the beach-sweeping fire of Nazi defenders in the D-Day Invasion of the French Coast. Troops ahead may be seen lying flat under the deadly machine gun resistance of the Germans. Soon the Nazis were driven back under the overwhelming invasion forces thrown in from Coast Guard and Navy amphibious craft. “The Jaws of Death,” an iconic World War II photograph, was taken by United States Coast Guard Chief Photographer’s Mate Robert F. Sargent (August 26, 1923 – May 8, 2012). The photograph is said to depict Company E, 16th Infantry Regiment, United States Army 1st Infantry Division landing on Omaha Beach from a Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel (LCVP) from the United States Coast Guard-manned USS Samuel P. Chase (APA-26). However, Company E was part of 2nd Battalion, which embarked on USS Henrico (APA-45). Note the pilofilm waterproof bags on the ramp; several soldiers have pilofilm bags still on their rifles, while others have removed them. The only soldier with his face to the camera is claimed to be Major William H. Caruthers Jr. (December 20, 1915 – September 6, 2006) of the 56th Signal Battalion, who disembarked not from an LCVP, but from a 6-wheel-drive amphibious 2-and-½-ton DUKW truck. 52-6th Signal Battalion “Ducks” were stuck on a sandbar, and he had to wade in under fire at 0830 Hours. 1st Battalion embarked on USS Samuel P. Chase. This photo likely depicts Company A under Captain James Pence (May 1, 1914 – January 3, 1965) or C under Captain Victor Briggs (June 20, 1920 – November 17, 1944) of 1st Battalion discharging from an LCVP, 1 of 6 launched from Chase that morning for that unit, at 0730 Hours (too early for Caruthers to be in the photo). It is often claimed to be E Company under Captain Edward Wozenski (July 9, 1915 – July 26, 1987) but E Company was transported from USS Henrico (APA-45), not from Chase. At 1727 Hours on June 5, USS Samuel P. Chase (APA-26) left Portland Harbor, United Kingdom, as part of Assault Force O, Task Force 124, arriving off Omaha Beach at 0315 Hours. The 1st wave was finished lowering at 0536 Hours and the 2nd at 0601 Hours. United States Coast Guard Lieutenant Junior Grade James V. Forrestal, Jr. (June 21, 1914 – August 22, 1966), son of the Secretary of Navy, commanded the 1st wave from Chase. Landing Craft Tank (LCT)s arrived between 0717 and 0750 Hours to receive vehicles. The 1st wave boats returned at 0847 Hours, reporting heavy fire and strong Nazi German opposition to the landings. The boats carried many casualties. By 1100 Hours all vehicles and personnel were offloaded to LCVPs, LCTs and Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM)s. At 1115 Samuel P. Chase took Landing Craft Infantry (LCI)-85 alongside to receive casualties from the sinking ship. At 1200 all available LCVPs, 15 at the time, were sent to assist LCIs ashore. LCI-85 cast off at 1340 Hours. Chase began hoisting LCVPs at 1530 Hours to prepare to leave. 6 LCVPs were lost to gunfire. Chase tried to leave at 1833 Hours but was ordered to wait; she was able to leave at 2006 Hours for Weymouth Bay, United Kingdom, arriving at 0536 Hours June 7. British tug Queen Express took off 322 dead and wounded servicemen between 1045 and 1245 Hours. Chase weighed anchor and returned to Portland Harbor at 1540 Hours. On the morning of June 6, Sargent later reported his LCVP was launched 10 miles (16 kilometers) from shore at about 0530 Hours, Coxswain William E. Harvill (May 2, 1921 – August 4, 1987) steered the LCVP at the cruising speed of 12 knots, which took about 50 minutes. Sargent later said, “When H-Hour finally came I had a mixed feeling of pride and being downright scared, I had dreaded and looked forward to this moment for months.” Seaman 1st Class Anthony J. Helwich (July 3, 1923 – May 23, 1996), the LCVP’s engineer, kept the boat operating smoothly in the rough English Channel waters. As the LCVP passed the beach control boat and was ordered to land on Easy Red Beach, Sargent could see the Sherman tank Number 9 in the center of the photo. 30 Duplex Drive (DD) Sherman tanks from Company A of the 741st tank battalion These 16th Infantry Regiment troops are assaulting the area between Exit E-1 and Exit E-3 under fire from Widerstandsnest (“Resistance Nest” or bunker) 62 and Widerstandsnest 65 between Saint Laurent and Colleville-sur-Mer. “Smoke hung over everything and as the coxswain opened his throttle to drive into the beach; we saw the enemy-placed obstacles, a tangled mass of timbers, barbed wire and hidden mines. Down the beach we could see the water spouts of enemy shells rising in the air close to other landing craft, but the beach ahead looked lifeless. We were going to be the 1st to land at this spot. We wondered if they were waiting for us. “My eyes were glued to the boat coming in next to ours, and on the water in between, boiling with bullets from hidden shore emplacements, like a mud-puddle in a hailstorm; it seemed impossible that we would make it without being riddled,” Sargent later said. “With a final burst of speed, [Harvill] kept plowing ahead, [and] drove as close to the water’s edge as underwater obstructions would permit us. We were in! The ramp went down and our infantrymen jumped off into chest-deep water to wade ashore, shooting as they went, but some went down, never to rise again!” The M1 Helmet of United States Coast Guard Bowman Seaman 1st Class Pasquale J. “Patsy” Papandrea (January 1, 1925 – November 29, 1998) can been seen prominently in the lower right of the photo after he has lowered the ramp. “By this time we were racing in reverse to get off as fast as we could. Close by, a shell from a German 88 [millimeter, 3.46-inch dual purpose gun, but Americans called all German artillery “eighty-eights”] landed, another, and a 3rd, closer. They had our range, but we just sneaked out from under each explosion,” Sargent said later. German artillery trailed the boats out to sea; Sargent estimated they ranged out to a 1,000 yards (900 meters). All 6 boats returned to USS Samuel P. Chase. Climbing aboard the USS Samuel P. Chase, Sargent sealed his film in a metal milk can for transport back to the United Kingdom. Both of his cameras were waterlogged and had salt damage. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0418.jpg |
| Image Size | 2.42 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5686 x 4533 |
| Photographer | Robert F. Sargent |
| Photographer Title | United States Coast Guard |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 6, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Omaha Beach |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-7298 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database