Sgt. John "Johnnie" Whetzel, took his oath of enlistment a week before his 32nd birthday, on March 20, 1942 at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio. He was 5'7", 183 lbs and his civil occupation was listed as an unskilled lumberman, raftsman and woodchopper. Johnnie trained at Camp Claiborne, LA., Ft. Bragg, NC., Tennessee and England before entering combat. Sergeant Whetzel was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. His unit was transferred to L-325th GIR, 3rd Bn., 82nd Airborne Division for the Normandy invasion (Operation Neptune). Departed from East Devon, England aboard chalk #36 Horsa glider, troop carrier group 439, the morning of June 7, 1944, D-Day plus one, and landed in LZ "W", in the Cotentin Peninsula at 9:00-9:10 am. This landing was called Mission Hackensack. He was in the second serial, and they landed on target without casualties. Their objective was to prevent German reinforcements from entering the Normandy beachhead, capture causeway exits off the beaches, and cross the Douve River at Carentan. Company G, under the command of Capt. John Souls, led a frontal attack at La Fiere Causeway on June 9th. On July 3rd they made their final attack, in a driving rainstorm, on Hill 95 (Mont de Doville/Saint Catherine Hill), Neufmesnil, France, near the village of St Catherine. Sgt. Whetzel was wounded in the lower abdomen on July 4th during their attack, or the 5th during an enemy counterattack, or the 6th final attack, by a machine gun bullet that perforated his small intestine, and he succumbed to this wound on Friday, July 7, 1944. His unit was attacking along the La Poeterie ridgeline towards the town of La Poterie (merged with the town of Tourouvre au Perche on Jan 1, 2016). By July 6th G Company had only 12 men. On July 8th the 82 ABN was placed in reserve, moved to Utah Beach and returned to England aboard 17 LST's on July 11th, 1944. Sgt. Whetzel was buried at the temporary military cemetery at Blosville, France. His remains were removed and returned March 11, 1949 to the United States aboard the U.S Army Transport Barney Kirschbaum (Liberty Ship #2348), along with 6,785 other American veterans for reburial. His body was interred at the Whetzel Cemetery on April 6, 1949.