Francis Jerome (Frank) was the son of Anna Berzhinski and Fabian Jacques III. He enlisted in the US Army 8 May 1942 in Detroit, where he was working. His civilian occupation was skilled laborer in production of beverages; he was single without dependents; height 64", weight 144. He enlisted for the duration of the war.

He married Ruth Louise Brilinski from Ossineke MI on 19 Dec 1942. She worked as a stenographer at the Bank of Lansing. They had no children. Ruth later became a stewardess for American Airlines; she married William Dale Dodge in March of 1954, and they made their home in New Jersey.

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT, NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT. DUTY FIRST."

Frank was assigned to the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, which meant he was a "Blue Spader of the Big Red One." He was attached to Co. L of the 3 BN.

On D-Day, the 26th Infantry was held in reserve as reinforcements and not scheduled to land until the afternoon, "which was greatly appreciated." They were originally scheduled to come ashore at 1:00 p.m. but because of the chaos and commotion on Omaha Beach their landing time kept getting pushed back. The 26th finally began landing on both the Easy Red and Fox Green sectors about 6:00 p.m., and it took approximately three hours to off-load all the men in the regiment. All were bounced, jarred, and seasick.

Co. L was the last of the 26th to come ashore. They were in LCI #416 which struck a mine on its way in. The landing craft/company commander, Capt. Linwood Billings, mentions no fatalities, only that his soldiers were then forced to wade ashore under heavy shell fire on Fox-Green beach. (The rest of the BN had landed on Easy-Red beach.) What Frank and his fellow soldiers saw there was the bloodiest, most staggering stretch along the beach -- a slaughterhouse and burning inferno.

They worked their way out of this gruesome mess and went into action with units of the 16th Infantry in the vicinity of Colleville-Sur-Mer. Enemy resistance prevented Co. L from reaching its D-Day objective which was the village of Ste. Anne. It was not until 1040 on 7 June that Co. L was able to rejoin the 3 BN south of St. Laurent. They were there for 24 hours taking part in offensive actions aimed at taking Formigny. At this point Co. L had been marching and fighting for 48 hours.

At 1340, after a meal of K-rations and a two-hour rest, orders came for Co. L to move to Ste. Anne. This involved marching from the extreme west flank of the 1st Division to the extreme east flank -- a stretch of six miles. Ste. Anne was a small farming community of ten or 12 buildings and a population estimated at 25 people who had all evacuated. The village was located on the north side of the Isigny-Bayeux Highway, in the hedgerow countryside. Ever marching, ever firing, the 3rd BN was the first unit to reach its initial objective in the whole Allied beachhead.

Co. L occupied land northeast of the village, with its right flank on Bayeux Road, supported by one platoon of machine guns from Co. M. All the major routes of approach were covered. About 0300 mortar and tank fire began falling on all the L Company area, and enemy tanks approached. They were being attacked on three sides in a viscious fire fight. With teamwork and back-up they managed to defeat the German enemy. Ironically, the enemy had not planned this attack. They were just trying to escape from the fast-closing corridor between the Americans and British, and were surprised to find the American unit in their path.

The soldiers were familiar with the hedgerows of England where they trained, but the French ones were entirely different and unexpected by everyone, including military intelligence. The versions in France were many feet higher and a tangle of roots. The biggest problem was locating the entrenched enemy in all this cover, and inventing new and untested tactical strategies to overcome the Germans.

There were also unending rains -- the wettest summer in 44 years, making a foot soldier's life especially miserable. In infantry school they learned to advance by fire and movement. Ever advancing and always firing was easier said than done on soggy earth, in the rain, completely surrounded by the unending obstructions of the superbly-defended hedgerows, which were like squares on a checkerboard.

When not on the offensive the soldiers remained on defense, and planned and planned, and came up with all sorts of ideas for overtaking the German enemy in the bocage. Men of all ranks joined the think tank searching for answers.

The War Department wrote that the 3 BN reached a second objective, Agy, at 2140 on 9 Jun. On 10 Jun they were on the edge of the Cerisy Forest and met increased resistance. Cos K and L attacked on the Mandeville-Rubercy road. At the village of Haut-Homeau enemy small arms fire stopped Co. L for several hours. When four tanks came up to deal with the resistance, the Germans put in an unusually heavy concentration of artillery fire. It was somewhere in this timeframe on the 10th of June that Frank was mortally wounded, with a shot to the head.

Frank died of those wounds on June 30th, 1944. Eighty-five percent of the infantry soldiers in this beachhead campaign were killed, and by the end of July the 1st Army was asking for 26,000 replacements.

Frank left many family members and friends who loved him and mourned his loss. His best friend from Alpena was Earl "Perch" Schmanski (himself a Purple Heart recipient) who survived the war. Frank gave Perch his nickname when they spent so much time fishing together as teenagers. Perch later owned Perch's IGA in Alpena, and he always shared memories of his friend when Frank's family members were shopping in the store.
*****
Lansing State Journal, 21 Jan 1948: Veterans. "Omaha Beach," famed in Normandy's D-Day History. Men from Central Michigan whose bodies are being returned: Sgt Frank J. Jacques (army), next of kin Mrs. Ruth L. Jacques, 813 Westmoreland Ave., Lansing. Body to Columbus General Depot, Ohio, from St. Laurent-sur-Mer Cemetery, France.
*****

"He has the soldier's recompense,
His is a patriot's grave,
Where calm in death reposes
Our noble, true and brave."