The Four Braves Memorial
Périers
Location and info
This amazing memorial in the Normandy town of Périers – to the west of Saint-Lo – honours the men of the US 90th Infantry Division who liberated the town.
Périers was freed from German occupation on July 27, 1944, and this memorial remembers ‘four braves’ who lost their lives during the summer of ’44, depicting two soldiers and a medic from the ‘Texas-Oklahoma’ Division, and a tank commander from the 712th Battalion.
They are:
Richard E Richtman - Private 2nd class, born November 26, 1924, Richard was assigned for reinforcement on July 14, 1944, to F Company of the 359th Regiment. He was killed on July 26 near the Chemin de I'Hôpital, Périers during the liberation of the town.
Andrew J Speese III - Private 2nd class in K Company of the 357 Regiment, Andrew was born on August 10, 1912, in Pennsylvania. He received a battlefield promotion to Staff Sergeant and was mortally wounded July 6, 1944, at the foot of Hill 122 during the fight for Le Plessis-Lastelle.
Virgil J Tangborn - Private 1st class, Virgil was born on May 23, 1920, in Minnesota. He was a musician from an early age and was transferred to the 90h Division military band. After a short period of training in England, all musicians were given the roles of nurses and stretcher-bearers. On June 14, 1944, in Amfreville Virgil was killed when attempting to rescue the driver of a truck transporting ammunition.
Tullio Micaloni - Staff sergeant Micaloni was born on April 9, 1913. He was a tank leader in B Company of the 712 Tank battalion. During the battle on July 26, in the vicinity of the Chemin de I'Hôpital and of the Carriere Hauley (Périers-Gonfreville), he was killed with his crew when his Sherman tank hit a stack of mines at the crossing of the Seves River.