John J Shaughnessy

1st Lt John Shaughnessy was killed in action on 06 June 1944, serving with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment. On the morning of 6 June 1944, the company was roused before 1:15 a.m., given a quick meal of sandwiches and coffee, and loaded onto landing craft by 4:00 a.m. for the run in to Easy Red Beach, about a mile and a half north of Colleville-sur-Mer. Coming ashore at 7:10 a.m. in the third wave of the battalion's assault, the men waded into a storm of machine-gun, mortar, and artillery fire, with snipers adding to the danger, and casualties fell along the shoreline. The company was pinned down on the sand until tanks silenced the enemy machine guns, allowing the troops to work their way forward onto higher ground. By day's end, all three of its platoons had established a position roughly a mile north of Colleville, holding that ground through the remainder of the day. 1st Lt Shaughnessy was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.