These Rhode Islanders were lost on D-Day. Here are their stories.

Last fall, Bert Guarnieri, 75, of North Providence planned a trip to Europe that included a visit to Normandy. Guarnieri served with the 1st Air Cavalry in Vietnam, earning the Combat Infantryman Badge as well as other decorations. He served a total of 38 years in the Army, retiring from the Rhode Island National Guard as a lieutenant colonel.

One of his bucket-list items had been a trip to Normandy, so last fall, he and his wife, Marianne, organized a trip and invited two other couples to join them. One of their fellow travelers, Bill Sheridan, came up with an idea: Why not identify three Rhode Islanders buried at Normandy and honor their sacrifice? In last week’s column, I wrote about one of those randomly selected men, Henry Golas of Central Falls, 1st sergeant of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, who was killed on Omaha Beach.

“I wanted to stand at the water’s edge on Omaha beach and face the shoreline," Guarnieri said. "I wanted to try to imagine how it must have felt to the thousands of soldiers who attacked the beaches under withering gun fire that fateful day.”

George R. Bailey

George R. “Bud” Bailey was born Sept. 5, 1922, in Cranston, the second child of Regina Allard and Earl Bailey. His father worked for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, first as a clerk and bookkeeper, then as a freight agent.

George was raised in the Arlington section of Cranston, graduating in 1937 from George Bain School. He attended Cranston High School, where he wrestled and boxed. He graduated in 1940.

When he registered for the draft on June 29, 1942, he was working for Swift & Co., the meat packing plant on Canal Street. He enlisted a month later.

How and why he became a parachutist is unknown. He trained at Camp Toccoa and Fort Benning in Georgia before being assigned to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

After tactical training at Camp Mackall in North Carolina, the unit became part of the 101st Airborne Division in June 1943. After participating in the Tennessee maneuvers, they moved again to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and then onto Camp Shanks in New York to prepare for deployment.

The 506th left New York aboard the SS Samaria, arriving in Liverpool on Sept. 15, 1943. The unit moved to Wiltshire County, England, where they continued preparations for the coming invasion.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, George and his unit took off in a plane at about 1 a.m. for the jump into Normandy. He was in HQ Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. (The “Band of Brothers” TV series was based on a sister unit, E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th, who jumped in at the same time.)

Because of weather and antiaircraft fire, only nine of the 81 planes managed to land their men in the designated drop zones. The 506th was widely scattered.

Some men, unfortunately, landed right on top of well-defended German positions. Mark Bando described this scene in his book, "101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles in WWII": “… a number of unfortunate paratroopers landed right in the positions of [an enemy artillery battery] and were killed in a terrifying and bloody slaughter. The unfortunates who landed there in that field and died … [included] George R. Bailey. All of these men were members of HQ 1/506 Parachute Infantry Regiment.

“Their fate had been determined by the position they occupied in the planes.” The troopers who jumped before them landed safely, as did those who followed them out.

George’s family was informed of his death in late June 1944. A Cranston Herald obituary said that in addition to his parents and sister, “He left behind a fiancée, a Corporal Kay Bouchard of Providence who was a member of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve.”

After the war, his mother, Regina, became very active in the Gold Star Mothers organization, serving one term as national president.

John J. McGarty

John was born in Providence in 1913. He grew up on Camden Street, attended Candace Street School and graduated from Providence Technical High School.

His Irish-born father, John, who emigrated to Rhode Island in 1888 at age 8, married Ellen “Nellie” Smith in 1907. They had their first son, Raymond, in 1909. John eventually became a Providence police officer. He died after suffering a stroke while on duty in 1928. (His older son, Raymond, also became a police officer, serving for 31 years.)

When the younger John McGarty registered for the draft on Oct. 16, 1940, he was working as a curb setter for the Providence Highway Department.

For whatever reason, he was not called into service until July 7, 1943, at age 30.

After basic training, John went to Camp Fannin, near Tyler, Texas, a large infantry replacement training center. On Oct. 1, 1943, he married his girlfriend, Helen Kozuska (or Kozusko), in Tyler.

McGarty was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, which had been in England since late 1942. He joined up with them in January 1944.

On D-Day, the 116th went into combat with more than 3,100 men. They landed on the most heavily defended sections of Omaha Beach, and by nightfall, they had taken 1,007 casualties — the highest rate of casualties for any regiment during the invasion.

Company E was in the first wave of the assault, hitting the Fox Green sector of Omaha Beach. They were met with withering German artillery and small arms fire.

One of the men unaccounted for after the battle was Private McGarty, and he was still missing on July 20, when The Journal published his name in its casualty reports. This MIA report included a reference to his wife, Helen, living on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence.

McGarty’s body eventually was recovered and he was buried in Normandy. Helen was remarried in 1947 to Omar Smith, a Navy veteran, and lived to be 94, dying in Florida in 2010.

“I am glad I was able to pay my respects to three brave Rhode Islanders who were killed on D-Day,” Guarnieri told me. ”To say that the feeling of sorrow and respect is nearly overwhelming is an understatement.”

Epilogue

Some time ago, Barbara Hampson of Cumberland emailed to tell me of a similar mission her husband, daughter and son had undertaken in Normandy in September 2022.

"Our family has a history of service,” she said. Her father and her uncle were World War II veterans. Her husband and her husband’s father also served.

“George’s priority was to visit the American cemetery,” she wrote. He took with him the names of Rhode Islanders still buried at Normandy, hoping to honor their memory with a visit to their graves. He found three Rhode Island markers, took pictures and laid flowers at their graves.

“In case there are family members who have not been able to visit, perhaps these pictures can bring them some comfort.”

She asked me to publicize these three names:

Jean-Baptiste P. Auclair: Pfc 330 Inf 83 Div; Rhode Island July 5, 1944

Elmer R. Harkness: Pfc 358 Inf 90 Div; Rhode Island June 14, 1944

Theodore J. Marquis: Pvt 12 Inf 4 Div; Rhode Island June 8, 1944

If there are any descendants of these brave men who would like to see the photographs of their gravesites, please email me at veteranscolumn@providencejournal.com.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI servicemen who died on D-Day honored during 80th anniversary trip