Bernard E Kirkendall

S/Sgt Bernard Kirkendall was killed in action on 06 June 1944, serving with HQ Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment. On the morning of June 6, 1944, this company came ashore at Dog Green Beach in three separate boats, landing minutes apart, which let German defenders turn their fire on each group in turn as it crossed the sandbar. One boat alone lost six men killed and saw roughly half its remaining strength wounded before the survivors reached the cover of boulders at the base of the cliff, where they stayed pinned down for most of the day; nearly all the casualties among the headquarters element that morning were officers and non-commissioned officers. Not until around eight that evening could the command group finally move forward toward Vierville-sur-Mer to rejoin the battalion. Other elements of the company fared no better in the confusion of the landing - a boat section carrying vehicles was diverted miles away into the 1st Division's sector and held under artillery fire for hours before it could move again, and the antitank platoon, coming in by amphibious truck, suffered heavy losses of its own, with some survivors not reuniting with the company until the next day. S/Sgt Kirkendall was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.