In the Footsteps of the 12th Infantry Regiment: from DDay to Cherbourg

In July 2025, I had the immense privilege of guiding the son of 2nd Lt. Harrington (B Co, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division) across the battlefields of Normandy. Together, we retraced his father’s combat path: from the Utah Beach landing on June 6th to the exact spot where he was wounded just 18 days later during the Battle of Cherbourg.

Honoring the Fallen at Colleville-sur-Mer

Our journey began at the Normandy American Cemetery. We paused at the graves of the men from Company B who fell fighting alongside Lt. Harrington. The statistics of the "Ivy Division" are staggering: between D-Day and June 24th, B Company lost nearly half its strength. Out of 9 officers, 6 had become casualties.

We stood in silence before the crosses of 2nd Lt. Clarence A. Stearns Jr., another company officer, and Privates Stover, Baxter, and Steele, all killed on the same day Harrington was wounded.

From Utah Beach to the Cotentin Peninsula

At Utah Beach, we walked the sands where the 12th Infantry came ashore in the second wave. At the iconic Roosevelt Café, Lt. Harrington’s son performed a powerful act of remembrance, adding his father’s name to the memorial wall among his brothers-in-arms.

Moving inland, we followed the 12th Infantry's liberation route:

• Beuzeville-au-Plein: The site of the first engagement for the men of the company.

• Émondeville: Where the Mayor recently inaugurated a monument to the 12th Infantry.

• Montebourg: A town that remains a symbol of the brutal, "hedgerow by hedgerow" fighting across the Cotentin Peninsula.

The Assault on Hill 90

On June 19th, the regiment faced a grueling objective. We stood at the jump-off line for the attack on Hill 90. Following the same narrow road Harrington climbed while leading his men, we reached the summit. Standing there, looking over the terrain, the tactical difficulty of the Normandy campaign becomes hauntingly clear.

The Final Objective: Cherbourg and WN243

Our final stop was the outskirts of Cherbourg. In Digosville, we received an incredible welcome from the Mayor, who granted us a private visit to the German coastal defense site WN241.

We ended the journey at WN243. I had long researched this position, believing it to be the site of Harrington’s injury. His son then shared a memory: his father had always said he was wounded on a "hill overlooking the city of Cherbourg."

As we looked out from the German bunkers toward the harbor, the realization hit us both. We weren't just near the site; we were standing exactly where his father's war had ended.

We stood there for a moment. It had been 81 years, and exactly one week, since that day in 1944.