The Story
Pfc Martino Salanitri was killed in action on 10 June 1944, serving with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment. On 10 June 1944, the 116th Infantry Regiment, having fought its way ashore days earlier on D-Day, held defensive positions in the Normandy countryside near St. Germain du Pert, Longueville, and Normanville. Rather than advancing, the regiment used this day to strengthen its hold on the ground it had taken, with men digging in and building field fortifications to secure the line. While the record does not detail the specific actions of the Regimental Troops within this broader effort, they would have shared in the regiment's work of consolidating and defending this stretch of the Normandy front. Pfc Salanitri was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.
Source: NARA