James Shimel

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JAMES SHIMEL had lived at 130 Richey Avenue, in Collingswood NJ, prior to entering the Army. He was assigned to the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, which after training in Texas and Louisiana, shipped out of New York on October 8, 1943. After training in Ireland and Wales from October 1943 to June 1944, the 2d Infantry Division crossed the channel to land on Omaha Beach on D plus 1, June 7, 1944, near St. Laurent-sur-Mer. Attacking across the Aure River, the Division liberated Trevieres, June 10, and proceeded to assault and secure Hill 192, the key enemy strongpoint on the road to St. Lo. With the hill taken July 11, 1944, the Division went on the defensive until July 26. Exploiting the St. Lo break-through, the 2d Division advanced across the Vire to take Tinchebray August 15, 1944. The Division then moved west to join the battle for Brest. PFC James Shimel was killed while serving with the Second Infantry Division on September 2, 1944, in action to capture Hill 105, during the siege of Brest, France.

   On D plus 1 (June 7), troops of the 2nd Infantry Division file up the bluff from Easy Red sector toward Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer

   Two G.I.'s of the 2d Infantry Division, operate a .30-caliber light machine gun from under cover of low-hanging trees. They are firing at a hedgerow across a clearing near Vire, France. 12 August 1944

    The remnants of Company I, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, advance through area near Brest, France, where many GIs lost their lives when Germans blew up their own pillboxes to prevent their capture. Many Yanks were buried by the blast, and rocks and debris flew through roofs a mile away. 29 August 1944