1SG James Harvey Rudolph Obenshain

courtesy of Karen

1SG James Harvey Rudolph Obenshain was born 10 Aug 1917 in Roanoke, Virginia. He was the 4th of 5 children born to James Henry and Lula Mae (Kessler) Obenshain. His father worked as a carpenter. James married Elsie Elizabeth Franklin on 16 Nov 1935. His father died of pneumonia in June 1937. James and Elsie divorced in 1940.

James was a SGT in D Compay 116th Infantry as part of Virginia Army National Guard in Roanoke, Virginia when the unit was federalized in February 1941. He then trained with the unit at Fort Meade, Maryland. He married Hazel Erma Montgomery in August 1941. There followed more training in Camp Blanding, Florida before shipping out for France aboard the Queen Mary in September 1942. Once in England, he trained with his unit for the amphibious assault that was planned as part of the liberation of occupied France. By the time Operation Overlord, James was First Sergeant of D Company. 1SG Obenshain was killed in action on 6 Jun 1944. This is one account:

Captain Walter O. Shilling took the lookout position in his boat to assure that the landing was at the correct position. About four hundred yards from the beach an explosion blew the ramp off the boat – killing the captain. Mst of the men think that this was the result hitting a mine, but some claim an artillery hit. The boat immediately shipped water and had to be abandoned. All the men except the captain – who was already dead, jumped into the water. The Germans laid a mortar and artillery barrage on the water, and inside this barrage the machine guns sprayed the men in the water. Just short of the each, 1st Sgt. James Obenshain was killed.

1SG Obenshain was repatriated and re-interred in Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke, Virginia.

Grandfather William Richard Obenshain served as a PVT in A Company 28th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War.