19 Aggies honored at Normandy American Cemetery

Related: Lists of Aggies honored at Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (see also: tx.ag/VietnamMIAAggies), the Normandy American Cemetery in France, the Luxembourg American Cemetery and both American military cemeteries in Italy. 

June 6, 2019, will be the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the massive American and Allied assault on German forces at Normandy, France, that marked the start of the Allies’ liberation of western Europe from Nazi control.

Every year, Traveling Aggies trips organized by The Association of Former Students as well as many Aggies traveling on their own visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer, France. 

Many seek to locate the Aggies who are among the 9,380 Americans honored there. 

Retired Texas A&M University archivist Dr. David L. Chapman ’67 has compiled this list of the Texas A&M men buried or memorialized at the cemetery, which sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach. 

Here are the 19 names as of March 2019. From time to time, research will result in names being added or removed. They are listed here by cemetery section, beginning with the Tablets of the Missing and on through Plots A-H.

Image: American Battle Monuments Commission.

James Hull Japhet ’43 of Houston
Died June 6, 1944, when his aircraft went down in the English Channel.
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army #18119195
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Section of cemetery: Tablets of the Missing

Robert Smith English ’42 of Lufkin and Crockett
Died Dec. 20, 1942, when the B-17 he piloted was shot down near Paris.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces #O-438025
401st Bomber Squadron, 91st Bomber Group, Heavy
Section of cemetery: Tablets of the Missing

Sam William Noto, Jr. ’47 of Bryan
Died Dec. 25, 1944, in the sinking of the SS Léopoldville.
Private First Class, U.S. Army #38675276
262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Tablets of the Missing

Herbert Otto Koehler, Jr. ’47 of Yoakum
Died Dec. 25, 1944, in the sinking of the SS Léopoldville.
Private First Class, U.S. Army #38675572
262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Tablets of the Missing

James McKinzie Thompson ’28 of Groesbeck
Died April 1, 1944, in command of a B-24 bomber shot down near Arras, France.
Colonel, U.S. Army Air Forces #O-017992
Headquarters, 448th Bomber Group, Heavy
Section of cemetery: Plot A, Row 22, Grave 32

Joel Bryan Stratton ’41 of Brazoria County
Died June 30, 1944.
Private, U.S. Army #38420792
507th Parachute Infantry Regiment
Section of cemetery: Plot C, Row 8, Grave 42

Henry Troy Gillespie ’38
Died June 17, 1944, shot down in combat flying a P-38 fighter near Evreux, France.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces. #O-756538
392nd Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group
Section of cemetery: Plot C, Row 22, Grave 32

Harry Connor Robison ’45 of Crockett
Died Dec. 25, 1944, in the sinking of the SS Léopoldville.
Private First Class, U.S. Army #18073964
264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot D, Row 4, Grave 21

Ralph Beaver Hartgraves ’41 of Jonesboro
Killed in action July 13, 1944.
Captain, U.S. Army #O-409742
329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot D, Row 9, Grave 37

Frank Percy Daugherty, Jr. ’42 of Laredo
Died April 20, 1944, when the B-17 he piloted was downed by flak on a mission to Bois Coqueral, France.
Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army/Air Force #O-753863
613th Bomber Squadron, 401st Bomber Group, Heavy
Section of cemetery: Plot D, Row 18, Grave 42

David Vance Lamun ’46 of Big Spring
Killed in action July 6, 1944, after landing in Normandy four days post-invasion.
Private, U.S. Army #18214504
357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot E, Row 19, Grave 33

Henry Douglas Jackson ’42 of San Angelo
Killed in action June 8, 1944, near Montebourg, France.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army #O-465360
22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot F, Row 9, Grave 11

James Edwin Rountree ’37 of Garland
Killed in action July 14, 1944. 
Captain, U.S. Army #O-356176
314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot F, Row 19, Grave 27

Arthur Mills Rider ’42 of Fort Smith, Ark.
Died June 21, 1944, of wounds received in the Normandy campaign.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army #O-470296
4th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
Section of cemetery: Plot F, Row 22, Grave 38

William Brooks Morehouse ’43 of Dallas
Died July 19, 1944. 
Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army #O-533490
60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot F, Row 27, Grave 23

John Daniel Ragland ’41 of Alice
Died of injuries July 18, 1944, in France.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army #O-409693
60th Field Artillery Battalion, 9th Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot G, Row 11, Grave 38

Rolland John Bowman ’40 of San Antonio
Died July 15, 1944. 
Private, U.S. Army #18103316
17th Field Artillery Observation Battalion
Section of cemetery: Plot H, Row 7, Grave 28

William Lester Jameson ’34 of Floydada, later of Weatherford
Died June 24, 1944; reportedly killed when his night patrol was ambushed in France.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army #O-320212
38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot H, Row 18, Grave 23

John L. Hanby ’40 of Mesquite
Died Aug. 3, 1944.
Major, U.S. Army #O-394560
9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
Section of cemetery: Plot H, Row 21, Grave 9

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