Patrick J O'Brien

S/Sgt Patrick O'Brien was killed in action on 30 June 1944, serving with Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment. On 30 June 1944, the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, was positioned in the Caumont sector, part of a broader period in which the battalion held that line while patrols from both sides remained active. Battalion records for these weeks describe artillery and mortar crews keeping up harassing fire day and night against targets of opportunity, while overcast skies allowed German long-range guns to move up, bringing intermittent shelling into the battalion's area. Combat and reconnaissance patrols sent out during this stretch reported that the enemy was holding firm outpost lines and had laid extensive minefields to the front. Because the surviving record covers 16–30 June as a single block rather than day-by-day entries, these conditions can be said to describe the battalion's general situation around this date rather than a specific action on the 30th itself. S/Sgt O'Brien was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.