Reports U.S. battle casualties
Washington (AP) –
U.S. casualties in the war, including the first two weeks of battle in Normandy, total 251,158. Of these, 55,206 are dead – 35,104 soldiers and 20,102 Navy, Marines and Coast Guard personnel.
Secretary of War Stimson reported today that through June 13, U.S. Army casualties were 179,923, of which 32,022 were killed, 73,638 wounded, 37,796 missing and 36,467 prisoners. These figures, he explained, did not include casualties in France because compilation of casualties from individual names transmitted from the field to the War Department lagged behind actual events.
To be added to them, however, was the report of Supreme Allied Headquarters that during the first two weeks of fighting in France, U.S. casualties totaled 24,162 with 3,082 killed, 13,121 wounded and 7,959 missing.
29th Infantry Division is led by Gerhardt
SHAEF, England (AP) –
Maj. Gen. Charles Hunter Gerhardt, son of a general and veteran of the last war, was revealed today as commander of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in action at Normandy.
Dispatches several days ago placed the division in the vicinity of Isigny.
Gerhardt, 49, took command of the division in July 1943 after it reached England.
He is a crack shot, great believer in physical fitness and filled with competitive spirit. He issued open challenge during training to any man in his division to a shooting match with either pistol or rifle for a two-dollar side bet.
Gerhardt is a rugged disciplinarian and a great individualist and believes in being with his fighting men.
He graduated from West Point in 1917, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He served with the 89th Infantry Division in the last war and participated in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives.