28 June 1920-6 June 1944

James E. “Jim” Atterberry was a Gunner’s Mate aboard the Landing Craft Infantry (Large)-91.

He was born on 28 June 1920, 24 years old at his death, in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas. He served aboard the ship throughout the African, Mediterranean, Sicily and Italian Campaigns.

The ship had been assigned to Flotilla 4 while serving in the Africa-Mediterranean, after participating in the Italian Campaign and returning to England, nearing Operation Neptune, the ship was transferred into Flotilla 10 for the invasion.

The ship was in dock on the Dart River in the UK awaiting orders and troops to load for the invasion.

LCI (L) ships were designed to carry troops, and the supplies to support them after they disembarked. The ships were notoriously slow and troops disembarked unprotected via metal ramps that were lowered by the ships’ crew from the front sides of the ship to unload their cargo.

Coast Guardsman often Joked that “LCI” stood for “Lousy Civilian Idea”! The Crew of LCI-91 had a mascot that they obtained in the Mediterranean, “Blackout”.

During the days before the invasion, 1 June, the ship began loading supplies aboard, so the crew knew that the big day was coming. Interested in what the soldiers’ supplies were, mostly the food supplies, the crew inspected (and sampled), the stores brought aboard. The K-Rations that were issued to the soldiers as meals would be the crews’ staple meals as well when the operation began. Of special curiosity of the Coasties (Coast Guardsmen) were a new type ration introduced by the British Military, made by the American Heinz “57” company and the UK ICI Company, there were self-heating rations.

The can had a cordite tube running down the center of the can that heated the contents in about 4 minutes. Prior to igniting the ration, a soldier or sailor simply shook the can for a minute or two to mix the inner contents. Either the cap was removed, or a soldier punched 2 holes in the lid, where a wick was waiting. The soldier could light the wick with a cigarette or match, and the soup, hot cocoa or hot malted milk would be heated. Problems with this particular ration were that the can would be too hot to handle without a cloth and they occasionally exploded showering the troops in the area with hot liquid! Nonetheless, they were “tried out” by the crew.

In the holds of the ship, obviously, there were large compartments for the troops to stay in while being transported, also compartments for supplies such as ammunition, radio equipment and other infantry related gear.

The crew on LCI’s had one small compartment that served all their needs such as sleeping quarters, chow hall and recreation room. Overall, when the ship was fully loaded, the Coasties manning the ship lived in pretty tight and often cramped quarters, as it was also used as storage for whatever supplies it would hold as well.

The Captain of the LCI-91, Lt. J.G. Arend Vyn, Jr., spent many long hours offboard the ship attending briefings regarding the invasion, but gave no information to the crew. In these briefings it was later revealed, Vyn was told that the invasion lanes for his ship had been cleared of underwater obstacles and mines, also the lanes were marked for disembarkation. On 2 June, he gave orders to the crew to not speak to anyone including fellow sailors or workers on the docks. The crew was also ordered not to leave the ship, unless on an authorized work detail, and at that, must be supervised by an officer at all times while offboard.

On 3 June, soldiers of the Headquarters Company,116th Infantry Regiment (29th Infantry Division), 147th and 121st Engineering Battalion and the U.S. Navy 7th Beach Battalion, 201 men in all, boarded the ship. At first these troops, mostly veterans of Africa, Sicily and Italy, along with replacements that had all been training hard for the invasion, kept to themselves, hardly interacting with the Coasties.

Soon, these troops began settling in, horseplay with a lightened overall demeanor, and the crew watched as the soldiers did exercise periods and training on the deck. Due to the cramped quarters, the crew got involved in card games with the troops, but shooting craps was hard because of limited space. It is reported that space was at a premium with the holds and decks being covered with troops or supplies. The crew were more or less limited to their duty stations and the small multi-purpose crew quarters room.

The Coasties were very interested and gathered around the soldiers when the infantrymen would disassemble and clean their weapons. Army officers often “pep-talked” the soldiers and reminded them that they were about to embark on a historic event. Their part in this invasion was critical to the war effort to defeat Nazi Germany, and reminded the veterans to “keep an eye” on the new guys, help them make it through. All in all, the combat troops and Coasties bonded over the few days they spent together. The crew deeply respected their human cargo. The soldiers were said to have been confident and deep in thought most of the time, but never somber about what was to come, most in fact, were excited to finally be a part of liberating Europe.

On 5 June, the heavily laden LCI-91 departed Weymouth, England in Convoy (0-1) at 1715, the ship and crew were well prepared, as most of the crew had been involved in invasion operations in the Mediterranean. The crossing went well without eventful action according to the After-Action report filed by LTJG Vyn.

Several miles off the Normandy Coast, “Dog White Sector”, the morning of 6 June 1944, the “General Quarters” alarm was sounded and the crew and soldiers prepared for the landing. The crew was amazed at the size of the armada they were surrounded by as first light came, all men in position at their battle stations, Jim manning the 20mm machine gun on the bow of the ship.

At H-70, 0740, approximately 225 yards from the back of the beach and 75 yards from the water line, a man rope was led to the beach through a maze of stakes each topped with a German Teller Mine. Troops began to disembark reluctantly, under heavy fire by machine gun and rifles from the high ground.

Due to the rising tide, and slow disembarkation of the troops, it was necessary to move the ship forward to keep grounded. The surf caused the ship to sway, and swinging in the surf, hit one of the teller mines, causing damage to the port bow at the level of the troop compartment within, injuring a few of the soldiers, but no fatalities at this time.

About 60 troops remained on board, and a signal was hoisted requesting assistance from smaller landing craft, but none were able to help. LTJG Vyn decided to move the ship approximately 100 yards West of their present location to disembark the remaining troops on board.

Once in the new location, a portion of the remaining troops had disembarked over the port ramp when what appeared to be a German 88mm artillery round hit the center of the well deck in the area of Number 2 Troop Compartment. The round ignited the fuel tank and within moments, the entire deck and below was a sheet of fire. GM1 Atterberry fired his weapon at the artillery position as well as machine gun nests he could identify. Because the fire could not be controlled, LTJG Vyn ordered “Abandon Ship”. Amid the ships fire, Jim continued firing upon the enemy positions as long as he could. Atterberry, a man that had been on the seas for a number of years at this time, was horrified of water and refused to abandon ship, albeit, he was himself on fire at this time.

Jim was horrified, though on fire, to get into the water. His life vest was on fire, and he was reportedly severely burned when his comrades dragged him off the ship. He succumbed to his injuries before reaching the shore, but his Buddies dragged his body along with them as they sought shelter from the withering fire from above.

They were Coasties, thus had no weapons or infantry equipment when they got to the beach. Survivors tell of making their way to the “Shingle” at the back of the beach and at the base of the cliffs, where they dug foxholes with bear hands, all the while under heavy fire, but defiladed from the 88mm that had sunk their ship. The abandoned crew would remain cold and wet on the beach for several days until they were finally evacuated. In the mean-time, Jim’s remains were left among the bodies of the dead littering the beach. Unrecognizable, he was hastily buried in a temporary grave near Vierville-sur-Mer. Four of his crew mates were also killed when the ship was hit and caught fire.

According to The Navy Dead Logs, GM1 James E. Atterberry was buried at sea, however, his body was found.

When a Soldier, Sailor, or in this case, Coast Guardsman’s body was found after the war, the family was given the option of having the remains buried in the Normandy American Cemetery at St. Laurent, Normandy, France, or have the remains returned to the United States for burial at the families’ discretion, it would be done at no expense to the family. His Father, John E. Atterberry, elected to have Jim’s remains returned to them.

On 12 December 1947, the remains of GM1 James Everett Atterberry were laid to rest in Plot 4, Row 0, Grave 2154 at the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

***Note*** This information for GM1 Atterberry’s Story was obtained through research by Robert Houston, with whom was helped by one of Atterberry’s friends and crew members, Herbert E. Nolda and his daughter, Valerie L. Vierk. The U.S. Coast Guard Historians Office provided the After-Action Report and The U.S. Navy Logs for the Photos, and Death Log. FindaGrave page for James - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/303288/james-everett-atterberry#add-to-vc