Preston Earl Bagent |

Preston Bagent in camp at Omaha Beach, France [1944] | World War, 1939-1945
Army
149th Engineer Combat Battalion
Camp McCain, Mississippi; Camp Pickett, Virginia; Normandy, France; Belgium; Germany; European Theater
Staff Sergeant
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A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Staff Sergeant Preston Earl Bagent worked as a draftsman and artist before joining the Army in 1943. The military made good use of his engineering skills, assigning him to the newly-created 149th Engineer Combat Battalion. After his transfer overseas and training in England, he got his "first taste of combat" on June 6, 1944. Bagent later documented his harrowing journey from his landing craft to Omaha Beach in an evocative series of drawings and letters to his wife. Following D-Day, his unit traveled from France to Belgium, Holland, and Germany, fixing roads and building bridges.
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