"Role of US Coast Guard in D-Day Landings" Topic

As we approach the 80th anniversary of Operation Neptune, I thought some might be interested in the role of the US Coast Guard during the Normandy landings:

link

Jim

I read that all landing craft in the invasion of Sicily were manned by the USCG.

Got me. Uncle Bob and Uncle Lyle--both USCG--were in the Pacific, prepping for landing in the Philippines. The Coasties saw a fair bit of the world in WWII.

My next door neighbor when I was a kid was USCG in WW2 and drove a landing craft at Normandy. I never had the nerve to ask which beach, but the way he looked when he said anything about it made me suspect it was Omaha.

The coast guardsman mentioned at the beginning of the article was also involved in the landings at Sicily and Salerno before he was transferred to the UK to prepare for the Normandy landings.

And this volume gives a good overview of the USCG involvement in WW2 -- PDF link

Jim

I have sold a few books on the Coast Guard in action during WW2. In addition to landing craft crews, the key personnel at theatre and CONUS bases. They also crewed a number of large troop ships.