The Price of Freedom: The Beatrice Boys and the sacrifice

Probably no book sums up the agony of World War II more than a The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate Sacrifice on D-Day by Alex Kershaw. It tells about the 19 young men of Bedford, Virginia, who joined the local National Guard unit, Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division and were the first wave at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Those 19 young men were killed within the first minutes of stepping off the Higgins Boat landing craft into the area known as “Bloody Omaha.” There is a town in Nebraska that had a similar fate a month after the invasion in the hedgerows near St. Lo, France.

The town of Beatrice was home to the National Guard’s Company C, 134th Infantry Regiment that was called to active service on Dec. 23, 1940. The unit departed the city in early January, 1941, for Camp Robinson, Arkansas, to huge crowds at the local auditorium and at the train station. They were on orders for one year of federal service. Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941) would change the orders to read “for the duration,” which meant to the end of the conflict.

The unit was one of many companies within the 134th Infantry regiment: Company A – Nebraska City, Company B – Falls City, Company C – Beatrice, Company D – North Platte, Company E – Scottsbluff, Company F – Hartington, Company G – Hastings, Company H – Grand Island, Company I – Lincoln, Company K – Omaha, Company L – Omaha, Company M – Seward, Regimental HQ – Omaha, AT Company – Gering, and Service Company – York. They were under the leadership of Colonel Butler Miltonberger of North Platte. The unit trained in the United States and eventually moved forward to England in May, 1944. They landed at Omaha Beach July 5, 1944, and moved inland through hedgerow country to the objective of St. Lo, France.

The city of St. Lo is a strategically important transportation and communications hub with four main highways connecting it to points eastward. It is located 20 miles from Omaha Beach but is surrounded by a vast network of ancient hedgerows and chopped the countryside up into perfect defensive positions for the German forces. The regiment was ordered on July 13 to move into position to relieve elements of the 115th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division.

The first combat order for the Nebraskans was issued and the objective was to attack southwest towards Hill 122 (north of St. Lo) on July 15. The overall objective for the division was to “destroy enemy forces in its zone north of St. Lo and seize and occupy St. Lo.”

Nebraskans were ready to step into the crucible of combat on the early morning hours of July 15 and by the time they liberated the city, seven Beatrice families would be getting Western Union Telegrams, and 42 other Nebraska families, listing their loved ones as killed in action.

When Julius Caesar and the Roman Legions controlled this part of France, he commented on the hedgerows: “they present a fortification like a wall, through which it was not only impossible to enter, but even penetrate with the eye.” (From Nebraska’s Militia: 1854-1991 by Douglas Hartman). The 134th was given a mission that the previous unit had been stopped on for almost three weeks. The units stepped off at 5:15 a.m. into the assault on Hill 122.

The first company in the lead was Company C of Beatrice with Captain John E. Davis as commander. Within the first two hours of combat, the company had 60 percent casualties (wounded/killed) in a day Davis described as “the worst day I had as a company commander.” Beatrice, population 12,000, saw seven killed and over 20 wounded in their first battle of World War II. It took two days of determined fighting to wrest the Germans from Hill 122 but the cost was high for the 134th, suffering 793 casualties.

The heavy loss affected Colonel Miltonberger. When ordered by the chief of staff of the division to press forward, he rebuked the officer and chased him from the command post. The staff noted his tears for he knew many of those who were now being reported as killed. The Nebraskans eventually moved forward and helped in the liberation of the city a short distance from Hill 122. James Huston in his book “Biography of a Battalion” noted “St. Lo was some of the roughest, toughest combat we had the entire war.”

Today, the memory of July 1944, and the liberation of St. Lo, France, is fading with time. Many of the Nebraskans that participated in the battle are gone and families have been left with faded newspaper reports, letters and pictures from the time period. These men from Beatrice made the ultimate sacrifice:

1. Harvey Langley – July 15, 1944 – buried at Pleasant View Cemetery, Pickrell

2. John Meints – July 15, 1944 – buried at Normandy American Cemetery

3. Charles Stevens – July 16, 1944 – buried – unknown

4. Floyd Hawkins – July 16, 1944 – buried Fort McPherson National Cemetery

5. William Nydegger – July 16, 1944 – buried at Normandy American Cemetery

6. Robert Fulton – July 19, 1944 – buried at St. Joseph Cemetery, Beatrice

7. Thomas Coates – July 31, 1944 – buried at Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln

The country of France and the city of St. Lo have emplaced many memorial markers to the Nebraskans that liberated them in 1944. The American cemeteries in France are well kept and visitors are well received by the locals. What have we done to remember these sacrifices? The Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward is building the “Price of Freedom” display to honor our fallen throughout our history (since 1854). The stories of sacrifice in World War II will be told in the exhibit that shows the Western Union Telegrams announcing their deaths.

The Wall of Faces will bring back their images for patrons to see and allow people to research more about them. If you have information about Company C or members of the National Guard in World War II, we want to hear from you. Contact the museum at 402-309-8763.