F09_P12: The Western Front: D-Day, June 6, 1944
1944 June 7, Front side - Envelope from Private David G. Metzger, 165th Infantry, 505th Parachute Infantry.
Tan envelope with cursive handwriting in English using black ink. At the top right corner is a circular cancellation dated June 7, 1944. At the bottom left is a rectangular stamp from the army examiner.
Name/Title
F09_P12: The Western Front: D-Day, June 6, 1944Entry/Object ID
2007.9.12.a-bScope and Content
1944 June 7 envelope and 1944 June 2 letter from Private David G. Metzger, 165th Infantry, 505th Parachute Infantry.Context
As the Red Army advanced on the Eastern front, armed forces of the United States, Great Britain, and Free France mounted the largest amphibious landing in history on the beaches of Normandy, opening a new front against Germany from the West. Attacks began just after midnight, as two airborne divisions parachuted into position behind German lines. By dawn, units of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division had captured key sectors behind Utah Beach. The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment had taken Sainte Mére Église, an important road junction, by 1:30 a.m. Domestic surface letter postage free for active-duty military personnel overseas. In a five-page June 2 letter to his parents, Private David G. Metzger wrote that he had not received parcels they had mailed, and "I am afraid neither of them will get here to be of any use. . . If anything should happen to me I want you to pay Ray $30.00 I owe him." The censor allowed these hints of impending combat duty to pass because the letter wasn't actually posted until June 7. Official records show APO 469, the army post office address for the 505th, transferred from Leicester, England, to Sainte Mére Église, France, on June 6, but it seems unlikely that anyone would have been processing mail there on the day after combat began.Collection
Nazi Scourge I: Primary ExhibitionCategory
Cover, Letter
Philatelic Material