| Original caption: “A Platoon of Negro Troops Surrounds a Farm House in a Town in France, as They Prepare to Eliminate a German Sniper Holding up an Advance, Omaha Beachhead, near Vierville-sur-Mer, France.” United States Army Captain Samuel S. Broussard (August 5, 1912 – July 30, 1995) and Sergeant George A. Davison (March 15, 1922 – October 1, 2002) leads a patrol from the 320th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (VLA) against a sniper. Sergeant Davison and another unidentified soldier are carrying a .30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) M1 Carbine. Broussard is carrying an M1911 .45 caliber (11.5 millimeter) pistol. Other soldiers carry the M1903 30 caliber Springfield rifle. If they are engaging a sniper, they are not too worried about him; the men are exposed to fire and have their backs to the open area. It’s likely that rather than a trained sniper, this was a regular soldier cut off and forgotten by his command. The patrol killed the sniper. Broussard was trained by the Office of Strategic Services, using his fluency in French to assist with intelligence and counter-intelligence, in France, Belgium, and Germany. Vierville-sur-Mer, on the coast of Omaha Beach, was defended by 3 Widerstandsnests (WN – “Resistance Points”) or bunkers, was attacked on June 6, 1944, by the 5th and 2nd Ranger Battalions and the 116th Infantry Regiment, which suffered heavy casualties. The Widerstandsnests fired down across the beach, not out to sea, to rake the landing troops as they crossed the open sand. What was left of the Rangers and 116th Infantry took 9 hours to clear Vierville-sur-Mer. The 320th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (VLA) landed on Omaha Beach later that same day. Deploying hydrogen-filled barrage balloons to 200 feet to protect the offloading landing craft, the cables would foul Nazi German propellers while a small charge of Trinitrotoluene (TNT) called a “flying mine” that would be detonated if the balloon came into contact with opposing aircraft. 3 men operated each balloon. Davison and part of the 320th accessed the beach via Landing craft Tank 608. The 320th steed on Omaha Beach until October 1944, except fora section that was sent to Cherbourg. Davison enlisted on January 5, 1943, at Fort George Meade in Maryland, and trained at Camp Tyson, Tennessee. He arrived in England on November 17, 1943. He returned to the United States on November 27, 1944, for a furlough, and returned overseas on April 25, 1945, for assignment in Hawaii. He was sent home via Operation “Magic Carpet” on October 24, 1945, and discharged on November 7, 1945. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0445.jpg |
| Image Size | 865.02 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2932 x 2261 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 10, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Vierville-sur-Mer |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-190120 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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