More than 200 people attended a living history program featuring World War II reenactors of the 29th Division Living History Association held at the MacArthur Memorial Saturday, August 26. A contingent of reenactors portraying the 29th Infantry Division, the “Blue & Gray” Division of D-Day fame, set up a command post complete with operating field phones and switchboard, and a field mess tent on MacArthur Square where they spoke to visitors about the arms, equipment and life of an infantryman of World War II. These reenactors came from Richmond, North Carolina, and Maryland as well as a local reenactor portraying a sailor of the Royal Navy. Some of the equipment and uniforms they use are original to World War II, while others are reproduction items. The 29th Division Living History Association has been in existence for more than 25 years and is regarded among the reenacting community as one of the best in terms of historical authenticity.

Four local veterans of the fighting in Normandy also were in attendance and shared their experiences with visitors, each having his own unique vantage point of Operation Overlord. Two of these veterans, Cary Jarvis and “Buck” Williamson, had served in the 111th Field Artillery Battalion and went ashore in the first waves at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. The 111th was supposed to provide artillery support for the 116th Infantry Regiment in its assault on German positions near Vierville, but when all but one of the 111th’s twelve 105mm howitzers were lost attempting to land on the beaches, the artillerymen found themselves fighting as infantry. Mr. Jarvis recalled having found temporary cover from a German sniper in an impact crater on the beach, only to be almost immediately ordered out by Brig. Gen. Norman Cota, Assistant Division Commander of the 29th. Later that day Cota would be instrumental in establishing a foothold at Vierville. James Rodriques had been in the US Navy in June 1944 and was driver of LST-388, one of the landing craft which brought the 29th Division ashore. He recounted making nearly 60 trips across the English Channel ferrying troops and supplies to Normandy and taking back wounded and prisoners. He also told of a close call with the Luftwaffe, when a German plane apparently singled out LST-388 as its target, dropping a bomb which just narrowly missed the landing craft, hitting just off the fantail. Another local veteran, Ed Shames, served in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division and had dropped into Normandy in the pre-dawn hours before the amphibious landings. Several other veterans of the 29th who served after World War II also shared their remembrances of the unit from another era.

In addition to the reenactors and veterans a special exhibit in the Jean MacArthur Research Center tells the story of the 29th Division from its inception in World War I to present day deployments. Several uniforms and equipment belonging to Lt. Col. William Cote, 29th Division, are on display in this exhibit as well as captured German material.


Original newsreel footage from the Memorial’s Archives of the D-Day landings and subsequent Normandy Campaign filmed by US Coast Guard, US Navy and US Army photographers was screened in the MacArthur Memorial Theatre rounding out the 29th Division experience for visitors.

The local chapter of the 29th Division Association also donated to the Memorial copies of the after action reports of the 111th Field Artillery from June 1944 to November 1945. Interestingly, these were made from the original reports which were retained by a clerk in the 111th who turned in copies and kept the originals for himself, which are now housed in a memorabilia room at the local 111th armory, along with a host of other artifacts and photographs relating to the 111th Field Artillery Battalion and the 29th Division as a whole.

This event comes at a time when the 29th Division is undergoing a reorganization, as only one week prior to the living history event the 115th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division retired its colors at Fort Meade, Md. But the members of the 29th Division Living History Association will always keep alive the honor and memory of those who served in 115th as well as the other units of the 29th Division that served their country in World War II and the American service members in all wars.

MacArthur Memorial brings together veterans, reenactors The Virginian-Pilot. By Hattie Brown Garrow. August 27, 2006.