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It’s July 5, 1944 in Normandy, France and
the 2nd Battalion of the 508th
Parachute Regiment Commanded by
Captain Chet Graham is about to flush
out German Patrols at the base of Hill 95
northeast of La Haye du Puits. Hq Co 2nd
Bn of the 508th Prcht Inf was
about to resume the attack from the July 4th
attack.
Captain Graham and
Captain Simonds the Operational Officer
were about to lead Companies D and F into
battle. Captain Graham said let’s flip
a coin to see who gets which Company.
Captain Simonds picked heads and won. So
Simonds took Company D and Graham would lead
Company F.
Simonds plane had been
shot down and figured since he survived
that he would do the same here. Sadly
he was wrong.
Graham said within 5
minutes a runner came up to him and said
that Captain Simonds has been hit. Graham
ran to Simonds side and knelt down to hear
what Simonds whispered to him. He said that
a
mortar round hit him in the back, and he
was dying. A few seconds
he die die. Graham said
Simonds' back looks like it had been hit by
a rake all down his back.
Here is the link for
Captain George Simonds IDPF.
Chet Graham has more
than a few narratives about his time in
Normandy. I spoke with Chet back in
2005-2006 time period. The best parts about
Chet’s narratives are that they are backed
up with Morning Reports, After Action
Reports, IDPFs and Medical Records.
More to follow.
Brian Siddall
September 28, 2026
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