Michael Groza NMI Jr

Pfc Michael Groza, NMI Jr was killed in action on 13 June 1944, serving with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment. On 13 June 1944, the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry was holding a blocking position near Villeneuve, covering the highways running west out of Caumont. That day the battalion consolidated its position and adjusted its lines slightly forward, while patrols pushed toward Caumont ran into resistance in the town and were pulled back since the area lay outside the battalion's assigned sector. Caumont itself fell that same day to another regimental combat team, which secured the flank alongside the battalion's position, and the advance by the 18th and 26th Infantry created a pronounced salient in the Allied front. In the days that followed, the battalion remained dug in along this defensive line, conducting active patrols as German artillery in the area built up to levels not seen since the Normandy landings. Pfc Groza was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.