Phil Swift Posted May 14, 2021 Share #1 Posted May 14, 2021 I was wondering if anyone had any information about what the role LST 338 would have had on Omaha beach during D-Day? My great uncle Raymond L Malone was on the ship and was wounded. I have no idea what his job would have been on the ship during the invasion and would like to know the possible reason he might've gotten injured. I am not sure if he was actually on the beach or if he was possibly injured on a higgins boat ferrying men to the beach. Any help is appreciated; also I am not asking about the history of the ship, just the role they played during D-Day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 14, 2021 Share #2 Posted May 14, 2021 Some references for you Phil GenWeb page for crewman George Zearott Naval History and Heritage Command Oral History - Support for Normandy June 1944 Recollections of Pharmacist Mate Frank R. Feduik on USS LST 338 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Swift Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share #3 Posted May 14, 2021 This is very helpful, thank you very much for this reference page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 14, 2021 Share #4 Posted May 14, 2021 Aloha Phil, Your Uncle enlisted in the USN in March of 1942 and after training was assigned to the commissioning crew of the USS LST-388. He was present at the commissioning ceremony in December of 1942 and is surely in this photograph of the crew from George Zearott's webpage. He was trained as an Electrician's Mate and is on the muster roll on 18 December 1942 as an EM3/c (Electrician's Mate Petty Officer Third Class) By the muster rolls he was present not only at the Normandy invasion, but also the landings at Red Beach, Gela, Sicily and then at Salerno on the Italian mainland. As an Electrician's Mate, he would have been an in an Engineering Division aboard the ship and maintained the AC & DC electrical motors, switchboards and generators. By June of 1944 he was a Electrician's Mate First class (EM1/c) and he was still maintained on the muster roll on June 25th, 1944 when LST-388 left the beach head. No mention of any injuries. I would suggest that you read through the two links above from fellow crewmen to read their first hand accounts of the Normandy landing. A deeper dive into the D-Day archives will reveal which units LST-388 transferred to the Far Shore and at which beach(es) she was deployed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Swift Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share #5 Posted May 14, 2021 The mention of him being wounded is in his obituary, he died in 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 14, 2021 Share #6 Posted May 14, 2021 EM1/c Raymond L. Malone - USS LST 338 (He has a tribute page set up here with photos and his discharge, most likely posted by a close family member) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Swift Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share #7 Posted May 14, 2021 This one is a better picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US82Bravo Posted May 15, 2021 Share #8 Posted May 15, 2021 Phil, "fold3" has a 45 page Action Report for LST-338 from 5 June 1944 to 20/21? June 1944 which provides detailed information regarding operations for that period. Beaches specifically mentioned are 'Easy Red Beach - Omaha', 'Jig Green Beach - Gold', and 'Easy Green - Omaha'. It also references the area of 'Utah Beach' and 'Gold Beach'. The following are extracts of the report - Noteworthy is the comment on the last page, PART IV, which indicates no injuries to any crew member during this period. This indicates that the 'wounded at Omaha Beach' notation in the obituary is in error for this period. **documents from "fold3" Additionally, his name does not appear on the list of World War 2 Rhode Island casualties on the NARA site: https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/media/images/27/30/27-2932a.gif Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Swift Posted May 15, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted May 15, 2021 7 minutes ago, US82Bravo said: Phil, "fold3" has a 45 page Action Report for LST-338 from 5 June 1944 to 20/21? June 1944 which provides detailed information regarding operations for that period. Beaches specifically mentioned are 'Easy Red Beach - Omaha', 'Jig Green Beach - Gold', and 'Easy Green - Omaha'. It also references the area of 'Utah Beach' and 'Gold Beach'. The following are extracts of the report - Noteworthy is the comment on the last page, PART IV, which indicates no injuries to any crew member during this period. This indicates that the 'wounded at Omaha Beach' notation in the obituary is in error for this period. **documents from "fold3" Additionally, his name does not appear on the list of World War 2 Rhode Island casualties on the NARA site: https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/media/images/27/30/27-2932a.gif Larry Thank you very much for the information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Swift Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share #10 Posted May 16, 2021 After having my mom's uncle remember some information, he was on a landing craft. So he wasn't on the ship during the actual invasion. Supposedly he was on landing craft 447 ferrying men back and forth. My mom's uncle is the only one Raymond spoke to about the war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now