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Private Austin Percy Nederveld, United States Army. Service Number: 36882642

Early Life

Austin Percy Nederveld was born on 10 April 1925 in Byron, Kent County, Michigan. His father, Steven Nederveld, born 1 December 1899 in Ottawa County, Michigan died 21 March 1993 in Zeeland, Ottawa County, Michigan was a Repairman in an auto garage. His mother, Audrey Sprick was born on 11 June 1904 in Byron Center Michigan and died on 15 October 1992 in Byron Center, Michigan. Austin�??s parents married on 20 June 1923 in Ottawa County, Michigan. Austin was the eldest child in the family. He had one younger brother and one younger sister.

Military

Austin P. Nederveld registered for the Draft on 12 April 1943 in Byron Center, Michigan. At that time he was a Student at Byron High School. He enlisted in the Army on 14 October 1943 in Michigan. After basic training and additional follow-on training, he was assigned to Company D, 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division.

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the 115th Infantry landed at 1025 hours, with the 1st and 2nd Battalions abreast on FOX GREEN beach, about 1000 yards east of that part of the beach on which it was intended to land. The 2nd Battalion on the right crossed the beach and started up the cliff, making slow progress due to mines. The progress of the 1st Battalion on the left was faster. It pushed inland to the south of ST. LAURENT, reaching there about dark. This battalion was subjected to heavy fire from snipers and mortar fire throughout the night. Lt. Col. Richard C. Blatt became fatally wounded by mortar fire. The 2nd Battalion attempted to capture ST. LAURENT, but was unsuccessful. It then moved to the south of the town, into the woods, about one-half mile to the west. Regimental Headquarters landed with the leading battalions, and remained on the beach under artillery fire until 1600 hours. At 1630 hours, the headquarters moved the Command Post (CP) inland to a trail east of ST. LAURENT.

During the night 6-7 June the 3rd Battalion moved to the outskirts of ST. LAURENT. At daybreak they attacked the town and by mid- morning had secured it. They then pushed toward LOUVIERES. The 2nd Battalion was held in the woods all through the day. The 1st Battalion moved to the woods about 1200 yards to the west of ST. LAURENT. During the morning the CP moved into ST. LAURENT amidst severe sniper fire. In the afternoon it was moved further forward, to the rear of the 2nd Battalion. The 3rd Battalion was held up in front of LOUVIERES. In the later afternoon, although the battalions were widely separated, the attack was continued in the direction of LONGUEVILLE. The 2nd Battalion was the only battalion that succeeded in moving forward. The attack continued until 0300 hours. The 2nd Battalion was in the stream valley northwest of MONTIGNY and the attack was halted there. The attack was then resumed, with the 1st and 2nd Battalions generally abreast. LONGUEVILLE was captured at 0900 hours by the 2nd Battalion, which assumed a defensive position west of the town. The 1st Battalion moved forward and assumed the defensive to the east of the town because TREVIERES had not been captured. Early in the morning, the 3rd Battalion had begun moving to a defensive position west of FORMIGNY to protect the left flank of the Division. Later, they were moved to a defensive position west of DEAUX-JUMEAUX, arriving there at 1800 hours. The Regimental CP, which had followed The 2nd Battalion, was established in LONGUEVILLE.

Death and Burial

Austin P. Nederveld was Killed in Action on 6 June 1944 at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France during the D-Day invasion. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. He was buried at the Winchester Cemetery in Byron Center, Kent County, Michigan.

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45725520/austin-p.-nederveld

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=490494

https://www.fold3.com/page/638682007/austin-p-nederveld/facts

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=268556051&tid=&pid=&queryId=0722313565308b67616c3ade175dd530&usePUB=true&_phsrc=5ru1809860&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/181025:2375?tid=&pid=&queryId=0722313565308b67616c3ade175dd530&_phsrc=5ru1568416&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/181025:2375?tid=&pid=&queryId=0722313565308b67616c3ade175dd530&_phsrc=5ru-588144&_phstart=successSource

"This story was written by Robert J. �??Red�?? Mulvanny, U.S. Navy (Retired) and is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story."

Added by: redandbon864

115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division
�??Rally Round the Flag�??
�?? National D-Day Memorial �??

The 115th Infantry was organized on 29 September 1881 as the 1st Battalion of Infantry, Maryland National Guard, from existing independent companies, including those at Hagerstown and Frederick. It was expanded and redesignated on 1 May 1886 as the 1st Regiment of Infantry by consolidation with other redesignated infantry companies. The 3rd Battalion of Infantry was organized 13 June 1881 by consolidation and redesignation of four companies. On 9 June 1892, the 1st Regiment of Infantry and the 3rd Battalion of Infantry were consolidated and redesignated as the 1st Regiment of Infantry. Mustered into federal service on 11 May 1898 as the 1st Maryland Volunteer Infantry, it consisted of companies posted throughout the state. Recalled into federal service in July 1917, the regiment distinguished itself in the Great War. Again federalized on 3 February 1941, the unit was redesignated the 115th Infantry. The 115th shipped to England in October 1942 to train for the cross-channel attack that would change the course of World War II.

Assigned by Overlord planners as a follow-up force landing on the evening of D-Day, the 115th Infantry was later shifted to the main assault force that hit Omaha Beach at 0630. At 0632 on D-Day, V Corps Commander, Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow, issued the dramatic order that would shape the regiment's destiny: "Land the 115th Infantry at 10:30 AM."

Led by Col. Eugene Slappey, the regiment moved toward shore in twelve LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry), each embarking about 190 infantrymen plus liaison teams from the 110th Field Artillery Battalion. Under steady artillery and scattered small arms fire, the 1st and 2nd Battalions disembarked at 1100; the 3rd landed an hour later. Coming in at high tide, the LCIs forced their way through a belt of submerged beach obstacles, many of them topped with mines. The 115th Infantry exited the beach through barbed wire and unmarked minefields, to push up the steep coastal bluff between E-1 and B-3 Draws. About noon the regiment attained the crest and received orders to turn west and attack the strongpoint at St. Laurent-sur-Mer, characterized as a "mass of tunneled emplacements." At 1500, E and F Companies led that assault. Fierce lighting erupted in and around the village, particularly near the church. Maneuvering around the village to the south, the 1st and 2nd Battalions sidestepped enemy resistance. Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion attacked to secure St. Laurent, an effort that continued the next day. During the night of 6 June a mortar shell mortally wounded the commander of 1st Battalion, Lt. Col. Richard Blatt, who died aboard ship returning to England. D-Day casualties in the 115th Infantry amounted to 103, including 33 killed.

The 115th Infantry Regiment played a crucial role in Operation Overlord. The U.S. Army would later acknowledge the regiment's audacious D-Day exploits by awarding the 115th the Presidential Unit Citation. It concludes: "The outstanding performance of duty, the courage, the tenacity, aggressiveness, and extraordinary heroism of all personnel of the 115th Infantry Regiment, at a time when the success of this great military undertaking was in the balance, reflect the highest credit on the military forces of the United States.�??

This monument is placed in lasting tribute to the 115th Infantry Regiments devotion to duty and contribution to victory on D-Day, 6 June 1944.

Added by: JodiBee

D-day

D-day was the largest seaborne invasion in the history of the world. 160,000 Allied troops landed that day, 34,000 of them Americans. There were 7,000 naval vessels involved, and 12,000 aircraft. 2,502 Americans died that day. 86 of them were from the state of Michigan. One of those was Austin Percy Nederveld.
Omaha Beach had the bloodiest fighting that day, having the worst casualty rate of any beach on D-day. If you've ever seen the famous opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan", you've had a glimpse into what it must have been like. On top of everything else that must have been going through the young soldiers' minds, it must have been so loud: the engines of the landing craft around you, the clicking of the bullets off the hull. Allied artillery was coming in from behind you to try to soften up the German resistance on the bluffs above. The German artillery and small gun fire coming down from the cliffs. The gunfire and shouting from the beach.
Nederveld and his unit landed in the second wave on Omaha Beach that morning, at 1025.
Rough seas wreaked havoc on the landing craft, which also had to dodge beach obstacles and mines, so they landed 1,000 yards east of where they were supposed to. Nederveld would have exited the landing craft into waist-high water with no cover except maybe the steel barricades the Germans left to hinder the troops' landing. He would have walked into heavy German artillery and machine-gun fire. Slowly, men made their way across the beach, to the sea wall at the foot of the bluffs, then up the bluffs themselves, passing barbed wire and mines along the way. They pushed inland to the south of St. Laurent, reaching there about dark, then was subjected to snipers, heavy fire, and mortars throughout the night. We do not know exactly when or how Nederveld died that day, but we do know that the 115th was given a Presidential Unit Citation for "extraordinary heroism, at a time when the success of this great military undertaking was in the balance."
D-day was a turning point in the war, a toe-hold that liberated France and, eventually, all of Western Europe. But it came at a great cost. The Allies suffered 10,000 casualties that day (dead, wounded, or missing), including one boy from Byron Center, Michigan -- Austin Percy Nederveld -- who was only 18 years old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach

"This story was written by Jodi R. Block, a daughter of a Vietnam veteran and a granddaughter of a World War II veteran. It is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story."

Nederveld, Austin Percy, PVT