Donald E Simmons

Pvt Donald Simmons was killed in action on 06 June 1944, serving with 4143 Quartermaster Service Company. On June 6, 1944, the 533rd Quartermaster Battalion sent ashore a Second Tide element of some 121 enlisted men under Lieutenant Irwin T. Fiske and Lieutenant Philip E. Shafer, having departed England the previous evening aboard USS Thurston before transferring to landing craft for the beach assault. One craft, carrying two officers and sixty men, touched down at the Fox Green sector at roughly 1310 hours, more than six hours behind schedule, into heavy enemy fire that killed one man during debarkation and wounded four others, one of whom was pulled to safety by Lieutenant Shafer. Despite these losses, the battalion pushed inland about three-quarters of a mile from the shore, where the men dug in and held their position through the night. Pvt Simmons was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.