US PARAS Fitt, Joseph Cyril

[John Robertson]

• SURNAME

Fitt ​

• FORENAME

Joseph Cyril ​

• UNIT

505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (Company C) ​

• RANK

Private ​

• NUMBER

19073142 ​

• DATE OF DEATH

13th June 1944 ​

• AGE

22 ​

• GRAVESITE

Taylorsville Memorial Park,Taylorsville,Salt Lake County,Utah ​

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

from Salt Lake County,Utah​

born 22.3.1922​

award Silver Star​

KIA Normandy​

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Of noteworthiness is the fact that Joseph was in the 505th even before the Parachute Regiment was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. He sent a 550th PIR Christmas card home that was dated November of 1942, and the unit was formed on the 6th of July in 1942, at Fort Benning in Georgia. Originally, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment was created and subordinate to the Airborne Command HQ at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, even though they were stationed at Benning. On the 4th of February 1943, they were assigned to the 82d Airborne Division and arrived at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on the 12th of February 1943. So, Joseph was one of the first men in the unit, which is quite a heraldic distinction.​

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From a letter on Joseph's internment, written by one of his PIR companions Clyde Hein. "Well, today I got a day off so I went to Ste Mere Eglise to see if I could find Joe's grave. I had quite a time finding it. There are three cemeteries in that vicinity. I finally found the grave registration office, and they told us where he was. He's buried in the Monarch cemetery, about 3 miles south of Ste Mere Eglise, in the small town of Blosville (blow'. ville). He is buried in Plot A, row 3, grave 44."​

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Elmo Bell, who was with Joseph on the objective bridge outside Sainte Mere Eglise, states how Joseph was awarded the Silver Star, to be received posthumously, "An Allied soldier using an anti-tank gun hit the tread on the lead tank, disabling it, and causing the tank behind it to roll over it. Their infantry then ran for cover. The third tank backed up down the road. The road, then, was effectively blocked, and they knew their mission had failed. But the disabled tank was still able to continue firing rounds. Shots fired at the tank failed to pierce its armor plating. Finally, one of the paratroopers, Joseph Fitt, dropped a grenade in the tank, killing its crew.​