The American soldiers were assigned to the 29th Infantry Division. The 29th was a Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and District of Columbia National Guard unit that had been inducted into federal service on February 3, 1941. One of the three regiments of this division stormed Omaha Beach, France, on D-Day, on June 6, 1944, and suffered heavy losses under adverse surf conditions and concentrated fire from the German positions on the high bluffs.