His pledge fulfilled –
McGlincy: Major who fell in battle first Yank to enter Saint-Lô
An ambulance carries body of hero at head of column occupying town
By James McGlincy, United Press staff writer
Saint-Lô, France – (July 18, delayed)
The body of a U.S. Army major, who had said he would be the first man into Saint-Lô, rode in an ambulance at the head of the first troops entering the town tonight.
The officer, whose name will be revered as one of the most gallant officers of the Army as long as his division lives, was killed by shellfire yesterday.
When word came this morning that the Germans were withdrawing, the alert was given to a special volunteer to attack the town. At the head of the battalion moving in for the last phases of the attack rolled the ambulance carrying the body of the major.
On D-Day, the major had stormed onto the beachhead ahead of his troops and had single-handedly wiped out a machine-gun nest. Behind him now were some of the same men who followed him then, volunteers for what they knew would be a hot job.
Hitchhiking into the town with the task force, I saw evidence of what a bloody battle this has been. Bloodstained equipment lay along the roadside. Jeeps with wounded Americans and Germans came steadily from Saint-Lô.
In the final battering ram tactics of the Americans, spearheaded by tanks and tank destroyers, Saint-Lô was left a shambles of broken buildings. In some sections, there wasn’t a decent building left.