It is an interesting bit of family history that I hear about every so often. My grandmother's oldest brother was killed June 10, 1944 on D-Day and I'm seeking any information about it that anyone could give. She was very close to him and still has letters she had sent him and still unopened letters from him that she cannot bring herself to open. She has his purple heart and the Army certificate signed by Roosevelt sent to the families of those who had been killed. That certificate has a number of his on it. It says Private First Class Earl A. Glenn, A.S.No. 14134534 if that helps pinpoint where he might have been. I'm mainly looking for things like where he was likely to have been killed and doing what on that day that could have resulted in his death? From what she told me when they arrived with his body it was closed casket because he had been shot up with a machine gun, this is what the two men who had been with him told her family. Edit: I also have pictures of both his purple heart certificate and another one signed by Roosevelt which I can upload if that would help.
What I can tell you is fairly limited. Your great uncle was born in 1919. He graduated high school and worked as a farmer, in Panola, Mississippi. He enlisted in the Army on August 27th 1942 at Camp Forrest Tennessee. I'm sorry that I can't be of more help than that; you would be able to get far more information by going through official channels.
If he was indeed killed on June 10, that would have been the stage in the battle in which fighting had moved inland from the beaches, to the small fields and dense hedgerows of the bocage country. This was a nasty, brutal war, fought field by field against camouflaged enemies tucked behind overgrown hedgerows - and the three foot high dykes on which the hedges grew. Without any way (to my knowledge) to ascertain division or regiment, it's very difficult to say with any more certainty than that.
What you need to do here, friend, is contact the Department of the Army, which maintains records for all 20th century wars. You'll need to request what I believe is called a DD214 form. They don't give these out to random folks - they're normally reserved for the individual or their next-of-kin - so we can't really help you there.
This is what I found.
Earl Glenn was a member of the 29th Infantry Division, 115th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Batallion, Company L (Love).
The 29th ID was assigned to assault OMAHA beach on D-Day. the 115th was apart of the second wave to hit the beach that morning around 10:25. (Reports that I found mention the 1st and 2nd Bn's but not the 3rd, so I can't say for sure that he assaulted the beach in that second wave. They have come ashore later in the day.)
The 115th was assigned the Dog Green sector of OMAHA beach on the far western (from the attacker's point of view, the right side) side of the beach, closest to Pointe Du Hoc. The landings were wildly scattered, and few people ended up where they were supposed to be.
The units pushed ashore and by nightfall on the 6th of June they had approached the inland town of St. Laurent-sur-Mer. At daybreak of June 7, they, led by the 3rd Bn, attacked the town and by mid-morning had secured it. The 3rd Bn. then pushed westwards to secure the town of Louvieres and thus expand the beachhead and secured territory. Also, the Command Post was trying to set up in the recently secured town of St. Laurent, but was having difficulty due to sniper fire, so a push into the nearby German-held area of Louvieres would help to make the whole area more secure.
As they moved westward, they came under heavy fire and were halted until they could bring up more men from the other battalions to help them in their attack. They later continued the attack and secured the town, while the other battalions commenced a night assault on the town of Longueville, which they secured by around 9:00AM the following morning.
By this time, the commanders realized the need to consolidate and reorganize their units from the confusion of the landing and constant combat following the landing. They sent the 3rd Bn. to a defensive position just to the west of Formigny, but later, when the Command Post decided to relocate to Longueville, they send the 3rd Bn. west again to a new defensive position just to the west of the French town of Deaux-Jumeaux; they arrived there around 6:00PM on the evening of June 7.
The night of June 8-9 saw the Regiment start the next phase of their push inland: the crossing of the inundated lands. The Germans, under the orders of their commander, Erwin Rommel, had flooded fields to make them unsuitable for paratroops and gliders. As a result, farmlands had turned into mini lakes and swamps and nearly unpassable for infantry units. So it was with the help of combat engineers that the 3rd Bn. moved southwest towards the town of Canchy and on to Colombieres. They continued south, encountering only light sniper fire. The 1st Bn. advanced on their left towards Bricqueville, and the 2nd Bn. remained on 3rd Bn.'s right advancing toward Veuilly, where they encountered stiff resistance.
All day on the 9th of June, the 1st Bn. encountered continuous resistance in their positions around Bricqueville. On the night of June 9, around 10:45PM, the 2nd Bn. encountered a heavy German counterattack by tanks and heavy infantry units. This left the battalion in disarray and severely depleted, but they held their ground. (Some reports say it was a counterattack, but another report seems to indicate it was retreating Germans who stumbled on the rear of the American lines, surprising both sides, before retreating again.)
On June 10, the 115 IR was ordered to move out towards the Elle River in preparation to cross it. This is really the only action that is listed for the units on June 10. No major incidents are mentioned.
So if I had to guess, which is all I can do right now, I would imagine that Earl Glenn was probably killed in an ambush by a machine gun team set up in a hedgerow. This part of France was/is notorious for the enormous hedgerows, which were a defender's dream.
It is also possible that he was killed in the action on the night of June 9-10 where German armor and heavy infantry surprised the American lines. Just because the reports list it is an incident involving the 2nd Bn. and not the 3rd Bn. doesn't mean that the 3rd was involved at all.
This may also be the likely explanation because the 29th ID Historical Society's website indicates that was reported in a morning report on June 10. So it is possible he was killed the night of June 9-10, but it was reported on June 10, and thus that date was listed as the date of death. I really can't say.
Here is the 29th ID's Official After Action Report for June 1944
Here is Earl Glenn's information on the 29th ID Historical Society's website.