John Martin Spalding Sr. (often misspelled ''Spaulding'' in official Army reports) (December 17, 1914 – November 6, 1959) was an officer in the

U.S. 1st Infantry Division The 1st Infantry Division (1ID) is a Armored brigade combat team, combined arms Division (military), division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army (United States), Regular Army. It has ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Spalding was a native of

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

. He is famous as one of the first officers (a lieutenant at the time for E Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry) to make it up to the top of bloody

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

and clear out

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

defenses from behind. He and his men, including his sergeant, Philip Streczyk, helped make the breakthrough there on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

possible. His

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

landed on the Easy Red sector, and made it to the

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...

largely intact, unlike most in the first wave. Instead of attacking up the beach exits, as was planned, he instead helped find and clear a path up the mined bluffs, right of Exit E-1. Once at the top, his team was the first to attack the enemy fortifications from the rear, clearing out

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...

and

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, often ...

es along Exit E-1. Later on D-Day he was involved in actions further inland at

Colleville-sur-Mer Colleville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Colleville on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandie region in northwestern France. History It was originally a farm owned by a certain ''Koli'', a Scandinavian settler in the Middle ...

. For his actions on D-Day, he was later awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

. After the war, he returned there and served in the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. He was later murdered by his wife Mary Christine Spalding.
John C. McManus (6/6/2025) A Knife in the Vitals: Omaha Beach. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/knife-vitals-omaha-beach/.

References

*''D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II'',

Stephen Ambrose Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, academic, and author, most noted for his books on World War II and his biographies of U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long ...

, Simon & Schuster, 1994, Messenger-Inquirer, 6 November 1959, Page 1. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/messenger-inquirer/111227882/ : accessed 6 June 2024), clip page by user sethwoodward

External links

''Cross-Channel Attack''
a publication of the

United States Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Arm ...

''Omaha Beachhead''
a publication of the

Spalding's Interview
from warchronicle.com

1959 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Military personnel from Kentucky People from Owensboro, Kentucky Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) United States Army officers 1914 births 20th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly {{US-army-World-War-II-bio-stub