I found a 1944 issue of the Schenectady Gazette that tells of a member in my grandfather's unit killed in Normandy. (Unfortunately, the article misspells his last name.) Francesco Barone, like my grandfather, lived in Schenectady NY and was assigned to the 304th Port Company in the 519th Port Battalion. When I asked my grandfather if he knew any other GIs from his hometown, he said "Yeah, but he died on the beach." I didn't know this man was Barone until a family member happened to email me in 2010. There were a lot of guys in the battalion from New York, but their hometowns weren't listed in my records. Barone was killed when a German plane bombed the supply ship he was unloading. The attack on the SS Charles Morgan is discussed in my book, and I wrote several posts about it on this blog.
In 2010 a man living in France sent me photos of graves and honorary road markers for men that killed in Normandy. Below is the road sign mentioned in the article that was dedicated to Francesco Barone.
