Edward E DeSautels

Sgt Edward DeSautels was killed in action on 25 June 1944, serving with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment. On 25 June 1944, the 175th Infantry held its position in the salient at Hill 108, roughly three miles from St. Lo, a piece of ground the regiment had fought hard to secure and now worked equally hard to keep. The Germans struck back with one major counter-attack and several smaller probing assaults during this period, all of which the regiment turned aside. Rather than leaving a single battalion exposed in the forward line for an extended stretch, the regiment rotated its battalions through the position, though the surviving after-action report does not spell out the exact day-to-day schedule of which unit held the line at any given moment. What is clear is that the regiment as a whole stood its ground under repeated pressure and did not yield the salient. Sgt DeSautels was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.