Carl B Westerberg

Pfc Carl Westerberg was killed in action on 15 June 1944, serving with Company B, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment. On 15 June 1944, near La Vacquerie, the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry held its position along the main line of resistance as German paratroopers of the 3rd Paratroop Division probed forward in the late afternoon before launching a determined attack at 1700 hours, backed by heavy artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire. The battalion's defense held firm, inflicting heavy losses on the attackers—by morning an estimated forty to fifty enemy dead were counted and eleven prisoners taken, with local French civilians reporting some sixty wounded evacuated from the area. With word from higher command that the line was to be held for an extended period, the battalion set to work strengthening its positions, digging alternate emplacements, clearing fields of fire, laying mines and wire, and reinforcing defenses for the days ahead. Pfc Westerberg was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.