Douglas R Osborn

Pvt Douglas Osborn was killed in action on 06 June 1944, serving with Med Det, 16th Infantry Regiment. On the morning of June 6, 1944, the Regimental Medical Section of the 16th Infantry came ashore under heavy machine-gun fire at the western end of Easy Red Beach, reaching the sand without loss despite the chaos around them. The section quickly scattered along the beach to pull wounded men from the surf and treat them where they lay, working alongside the battalion aid men since the Engineer Shore Brigade's medical personnel were not functioning as expected. By afternoon the section had regrouped, located a beach exit, and established the Regimental Aid Station on a hillside near the Regimental command post, where by evening they were caring for roughly 80 wounded men, digging foxholes for those unable to dig their own, and improvising with borrowed blankets to fight off shock and exposure through the night. Under continued shelling, they organized evacuation of the walking wounded and litter cases that evening and into the next morning, even as additional litter bearers arrived to help reach battalion aid stations still struggling with casualties from the assault. Pvt Osborn was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.