| Original caption: “American assault troops of the Sixteenth Infantry Regiment, injured while storming Omaha Beach, wait by the chalk cliffs for evacuation to a field hospital for further medical treatment.” Soldiers of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 16th Regiment, United States Army 1st Infantry Division, wait for evacuation and smoke cigarettes and eat at an aid station set up at H+50 on Easy Red Sector of Omaha Beach by the 6th Naval Beach Battalion at the foot of the cliffs east of Colleville sur Mer. Soldiers identified from left to right: Private Walter P. Durgavich (January 16, 1908 – December 1, 1965) was wounded when his landing craft struck a mine and sank. He enlisted on May 17, 1943, in New York City and was originally a native of Mahoy City, Pennsylvania, where he played football and acted in drama in high school. He resided in Brooklyn after graduation. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his actions on D-Day. Wounded in his face and wrist, he was discharged from the hospital in July 1944. The soldier looking at the camera is generally recognized as Private 1st Class Nicholas A. Fina (February 21, 1922 – August 29, 1995) of Brooklyn, New York. He was driving a vehicle that hit a land mine. Fina enlisted on August 25, 1940. He was the Battalion interpreter, having learned French and Italian at New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn. In the August 15, 1943, Park City Daily News, “Languages come easily with me,” he said, “And I’ve become official interpreter.” During Operation Torch, Fina’s American-accented French was greeted with a hail of bullets. Fina suffered Facial wounds and damage to his teeth but was quickly discharged the same month. Private Harold L. “Lester” Brady (December 16, 1924 – April 2, 1974) of Tarpon Springs, Florida enlisted on March 4, 1943. He received the Bronze Star. Wounded while fighting in Germany on October 12, 1944, he was shot through the middle finger. He was treated with penicillin and returned to duty in December 1944, just in time for the Ardennes Offensive. He was promoted to Private 1st Class. Private Angelo T. Monaco (February 22, 1922 – February 20, 2018) enlisted in Newark, New Jersey on November 27, 1942. A radio operator, he was also in the landing craft that struck a mine, exploded, and sank. He acquired a rifle from another casualty and engaged the Nazi Germans despite mortar, artillery and machine gun fire. Monaco was thrown by a shell exploding and herniated his spinal disc. Hit by debris, he was 1st in the hospital for a month, then transferred to another facility, where he convalesced until January 1945. He was transferred to the 66th Infantry Division and fought with them for the rest of the war. The last soldier on the right of the photo, almost out of frame, with the letter “E” on the back was identified as Staff Sergeant Melvin L. Flammia (June 23, 1924 – December 3, 1944) of Richmond, Virginia. Flammia was assigned to the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. His landing craft drifted in and landed near the 16th Regiment. Flammia was killed while fighting in Germany. The photo was taken by Sergeant Richard A. Taylor (February 22, 1907 – April 6, 2002) of Detachment “L” of the 165th Signal Corps Photographic Company. The detachment was the only 1 to land with 1 of the 1st waves on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Taylor himself “went in on H+30.” This makes it the earliest footage filmed on Omaha Beach. Upon landing Taylor was hit and wounded in the arm, but managed to keep his camera above water as machine gun fire sprayed near him. “As doughboys around [me] dropped, some dead, others hurt, [I] filmed it all.” Taylor was later evacuated to a hospital in England. His film were the 1st motion pictures to arrive in the United States — H+64 hours. In the caption sheets that were received with the film shot by Taylor, he doesn’t mention his injuries. He writes a laconic “several scenes are missing because of difficulties with snipers and machine-gunners.” He would be photographed at the hospital, still holding his camera. He was discharged in July 1944. He was awarded the Silver Star for his work on D-Day. Lacking heavy weapons, the 16th Regiment nevertheless mounted a counterattack, continuing to fight all day on June 6. By midnight, they had cut the Vierville-Colleville Road. Days of hard fighting lay ahead for the “Big Red One,” but many of these men in this view would be heading back to England. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0428.jpg |
| Image Size | 745.44 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2896 x 1996 |
| Photographer | Richard A. Taylor |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 6, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Collville-sur-Mer |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-189910 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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