{"id":40,"featured":0,"modified":"2024-02-23 04:12:17","latitude":49.41607840000000351210474036633968353271484375,"longitude":-1.1871365000000000389235310649382881820201873779296875,"title":"The 90th ID at Utah Beach","address":"50480 Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France (Plage de la Madeleine)","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/eb34a9cbed1337fa8c026303f3665b44.jpg","creator":["Amelia Abney"],"description":"Even before being demobilized and discharged, the men of the 90th Infantry Division knew they had to do something to honor their fallen brothers. That 'something' became one of the first World War II monuments ever built. Though the twenty-four-year-long pause between its conception and delivery to Utah Beach was a deviation from the original plan, the delay brought together those passionate about the 90th on both sides of the Atlantic and allowed for future collaboration and honoring of their veterans.
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\r\nAfter VE Day (Victory in Europe), officers of the 90th Division stationed in Weiden, Germany, decided a monument was necessary to memorialize men of the 90th who died or suffered fighting for the liberation of Europe. These officers collected funds among themselves and from others within the Division stationed nearby to pay for the creation of such a monument. Collectively, they agreed the monument should come from German stone, with German labour. The 'German stone' was granite \u2013 specifically, from the quarries at Flossenb\u00fcrg, which the 90th Division had liberated, along with the nearby concentration camp in April, 1945. The 'German labour' was commissioned from Erick Bock, who was a prisoner of war at the time, and so the work was taken up by his wife and son.
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\r\nThe finished stele was engraved on both granite faces with the words, \"To the\/ memory\/ of the\/ heroic dead\/ of the\/ 90th Infantry Division\/ US Army\/ 6 June 1944 - 9 May 1945.\" Decorations would come later, but during this early stage of the monument's life, all that existed was a rather bland chunk of Flossenb\u00fcrg granite. The Bocks delivered the finished piece to the remaining members of the 90th at Weiden. However, due to poor communication and organization amongst those who had initially commissioned it and the fact that most of them were sent back to the US before the completion of the stele, there was no real plan for transporting it from Weiden to Utah Beach. The last 90th soldiers in Weiden did not know what to do with it and left Europe without seeing the undertaking finalized. Through some undocumented turn of events, the stele ended up abandoned in an area behind the Normandy American Cemetery.
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\r\nIn 1962, Colonel Eames Yates, a 90th veteran, located the monument and, incensed, wrote letters to the 90th Infantry Division Association, the American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC), and the Pentagon in an attempt to rally enough interest to have the monument moved. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful.
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\r\nThe stele remained in the same location, essentially forgotten, until Henri Levaufre, a French 90th Division historian, received a letter in 1968 from the Executive Secretary of the 90th Infantry Division Association, Denby Steel. In short, Steel, on behalf of the 90th veterans in the Association, asked Levaufre to research a possible monument to the 90th lying hidden somewhere in the Normandy American Cemetery, a request to which Levaufre was eager to oblige. After a few reconnaissance trips to the Cemetery, with assistance from his children, he located the monument, nearly obscured behind a rise in the land and overgrown by twenty years of vegetation. He wrote to Steel, in his own words, \"something like 'Mission accomplished\" (Levaufre, n.d.).
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\r\nHowever, this mission was only the first. The problems of transporting the monument thirty-plus miles from the Normandy American Cemetery to Utah Beach, erecting it, then dedicating it remained. Eventually, after much back-and-forth between the 90th Infantry Division Association, the ABMC, Michel de Vallavieille, then mayor of Utah Beach, and Henri Levaufre, an arrangement arose - to have the 90th monument moved in conjunction with a monument for the 4th Infantry Division. In May 1969, the monument was finally placed on Utah Beach. A month later, on June 6th, 1969, two 90th veterans visited the beach: Malcolm Latta and Frank Fultz. Both men were a part of the 357th regiment and were close friends during the war. They had not seen each other since July 4th, 1944, when Fultz was injured and taken away from the regiment. They reunited on Utah Beach and were the first men to lay a wreath at the foot of the 90th monument. Two years later, in July 1971, a 90th Infantry Division Association group came to Periers for an official unveiling and dedication.
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\r\nThough the monument was in place, dedicated as initially planned to the losses of the 90th, concerns arose regarding its appearance\u2013 a simple carved granite stele sitting on the beach. Henri Levaufre recalled General Richard Stilwell, a 90th veteran, saying of the monument, \"It's really sad to see such a poor stone to represent all of our lost men and sacrifices.\" (Levaufre, n.d.)
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\r\nThus began a series of improvements in the 1980s, which involved planting a lawn and bushes, the carving being under-painted in red, and the bronze plaque listing the regular and attached units of the 90th during the war being attached to the bottom of the remodeled base. The entire stele and base also moved to a raised platform paved with small granite stones, with large granite stairs leading up to it. Upon completion, the monument was unveiled again on June 7, 1987. The work and vision of the 90th officers in Weiden forty-one years earlier were at last a reality.
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\r\nIn July 1945, simultaneously yet inadvertently with the monument's planning, General George S. Patton, commander of the Third Army, said of the 90th, \"Sometimes I think you don't know how good you are. You are the best soldiers in the world. It was a great honor to command you.\" (90th Infantry Division Association, n.d.) In the present-day US, the 90th Infantry Division is now as forgotten as any other Army Division of World War Two fame \u2013 outside of history books and museums, few would even recognize the name. However, the residents of Flossenb\u00fcrg, P\u00e9riers, and all other areas the 90th Infantry Division liberated or resided during the world would agree with Patton's sentiment.
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\r\nThese residents hold near and dear to their hearts their gratitude for the 90th's heroism in the face of horror and the individual men who died and suffered for their freedom. If a 90th veteran, or anyone connected with the 90th, appears in one of these villages, wearing their \"Tough 'Ombres\" insignia, residents are eager to shake their hand and shower them with gratitude and respect. New monuments to the 90th Division continue to appear throughout France: symbols of gratitude, respect, remembrance, and hope.
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\r\nThe monument to the 90th Division on Utah Beach remains hallowed ground for not only liberated residents of France but the remaining 90th veterans, their families, and friends making the pilgrimage to Utah Beach. Its existence provides comfort and validation to those reared in a post-war world resulting from the contributions and sacrifices of their ancestors. The red under-painting on the monument, which stands out starkly from the earthy tones of granite, grass, and sand, calls to mind the bloodshed on that ground nearly eighty years ago, forever equating to the price required for freedom.
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\r\n(Edited by Laura Bailey)","sponsor":"","subtitle":"In Memory of \u2018Patton\u2019s Favorite\u2019 Division","accessinfo":"","lede":"After a bizarre twenty-four-year-long journey, one of the first monuments designed in remembrance of World War Two was finally put in its rightful place to commemorate the Tough \u2018Ombres of the 90th Division.","website":"https:\/\/www.uswarmemorials.org\/html\/monument_details.php?SiteID=266&MemID=474","related_resources":["90th Infantry Division Association. n.d. \u201cWho We Are.\u201d Www.90thdivisionassoc.org. 90th Infantry Division Association. Accessed July 6, 2023. 90th Division Association<\/a>.","Bailey, Laura, e-mail message to author, July 9, 2023.","Levaufre, Christian, e-mail message to author, July 5, 2023.","Levaufre, Henri . n.d. \u201cThe 90th Infantry Division Monument at Utah-Beach .\u201d WW2 Commemorative Monuments. ASSOCIATION NORMANDY 44 - 90th US DIVISION. Accessed July 6, 2023. http:\/\/normandy44-90div.us.pagesperso-orange.fr\/oldsite\/usa\/3-utah-ww2.htm."],"files":{"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/eb34a9cbed1337fa8c026303f3665b44.jpg":{"id":348,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"The 90th Infantry Division Monument at Utah Beach","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/eb34a9cbed1337fa8c026303f3665b44.jpg","description":"This marker, composed of granite from the Flossenburg concentration camp, memorializes the efforts of the 90th ID from the D-Day landing on June 6, 1944 through the end of WWII. | 90th Sustainment Brigade Facebook Page | 90th Sustainment Brigade"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/42405edb5a992c77d3fa92a1f7274adb.jpg":{"id":347,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"90th ID Plaque Inscription at Utah Beach","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/42405edb5a992c77d3fa92a1f7274adb.jpg","description":"The Tough 'Ombres Combat Team
\r\nUtah Beach to Czechoslovakia
\r\n357th INF REGT
\r\n358th INF REGT
\r\n359th INF REGT
\r\n712th TK BN
\r\n773rd TD BN
\r\n343rd FA BN
\r\n344th FA BN
\r\n915th FA BN
\r\n345th FA BN
\r\n537th AA BN
\r\n315th ENGR BN
\r\n607th TD BN
\r\n315th MED BN
\r\n90th SIG CO
\r\n90th RCN TP
\r\n90th QM CO
\r\n790th ORD CO
\r\nDIV BAND
\r\n90th MP PLT
\r\nHQS & HQS COS
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\r\nIn 5 campaigns and 318 days of battle, marked by great cost of precious lives and extraordinary valor, the Tough Hombres accomplished every mission. Shoulder to shoulder with American, French and other allied units, they liberated Europe and made a better world. | Personal Collection of Laura Bailey | Laura Bailey"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/3293671a81c0dca615b8f86712a23b5e.jpg":{"id":337,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":" \u2018D-Day\u2019","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/3293671a81c0dca615b8f86712a23b5e.jpg","description":"Sketch of the D-Day Invasion by native Norman Henri Levaufre | ASSOCIATION NORMANDY 44 - 90th US DIVISION | Henri Levaufre"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/6e425e5792586ea337625a6d548363d2.jpg":{"id":338,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"First Crossing of the Moselle","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/6e425e5792586ea337625a6d548363d2.jpg","description":" Otis Matthews and WL Faulk (the author\u2019s great-grandfather) - members of the 90th Infantry Division. | Leonard Faulk Collection; 90th Infantry Division Association<\/a> | Unknown"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/71c224ef45d11a90539d4b7d60095405.jpg":{"id":339,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Flossenburg Concentration Camp Grounds, 1940","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/71c224ef45d11a90539d4b7d60095405.jpg","description":"Overview of the Flossenburg Concentration Camp - later liberated by the 90th Infantry Division in April of 1945. | Flossenburg Concentration Camp Memorial | Bavarian Memorials Foundation<\/a> | Unknown"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/343d6520ccb63537c5d60f3a3c3ca490.jpg":{"id":340,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Henri & Janete Levaufre ","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/343d6520ccb63537c5d60f3a3c3ca490.jpg","description":"Norman natives who witnessed the D-Day invasion. They dedicated their lives to the preservation of the 90th ID's role in liberating their country. | ASSOCIATION NORMANDY 44 - 90th US DIVISION.<\/a> | Unknown"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/87b3e9d48e1ee43c257af3b5d783809b.jpg":{"id":343,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"90th Infantry Division Veteran Returns","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/87b3e9d48e1ee43c257af3b5d783809b.jpg","description":"90th ID veteran and wife, Vernon and Violet Schmidt, visit Utah Beach to pay their respects to his Division. | Schmidt Family Trip | Audrey Tarvin"},"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/fullsize\/6fef1849e3d0f8c576d8944e4208f63e.jpg":{"id":346,"mime-type":"image\/png","title":"90th ID Insignia","thumbnail":"https:\/\/worldwariimonuments.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/6fef1849e3d0f8c576d8944e4208f63e.jpg","description":"90th Infantry Division Shoulder Sleeve | Symbol of the Tough 'Ombres<\/a> | 90th Infantry Division - US Government"}}}