Beschreibung:

Flag measures 21" x 17" framed and mounted. Cotton with brass grommets. Though the bravery of the United States Army and Navy throughout the course of the Normandy Invasion have rightfully earned their place alongside the Greeks at Thermopylae and the Roman legions at Zama in the annals of martial history, the indispensable contribution of the United States Coast Guard is often unintentionally overlooked. LCI(L)-86 (Landing Craft, Infantry, Large, number 86) was one of nearly a hundred warships manned by the Coast Guard for Operation Neptune, the amphibious landing stage of the combined allied forces umbrella plan for the invasion of Normandy, known as Operation Overlord. Already having participated in the invasions of North Africa, Italy, and Sicily, LCI(L)-86 was a veteran vessel. She and her crew were assigned to Assault Group O-2 and served as headquarters vessel and flagship of the assault group Deputy Commander, US Navy Captain W.D. Wright being renumbered as LCH-86. LCH-86 and her crew faced the daunting task of directing the actions of its group’s landing craft and trying to maintain order in the western sector of the chaos that was Omaha Beach. After the invasion, the flag was taken from the vessel by Signalman John White John Kelly White of Boston, Massachusetts, enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in July 1943 at the age of seventeen and completed his initial training at the Coast Guard training center in Brooklyn, New York. White served as a signalman about the LCH-86 and would have been instrumental in organizing and maintaining the visual lines of communication between the headquarters ship, the flagship, and the landing craft; a vital and high-pressure duty station in any capacity, much less the largest seaborne invasion in modern history. White continued his service in the Coast Guard aboard U.S.C.G.16 (83777) during its assignment as a rescue craft in the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Flotilla One. White was present at the disastrous sinking of the S.S. Léoplodville, in which approximately 800 American soldiers died. The circumstances of the incident, famously covered up by the U.S. military disgusted White, who called the debacle “inexcusable” in later publication about the event. He left the Coast Guard in 1946 as a Signalman First Class, but would re-enlist in the United States Air Force in 1950, serving until 1969. White passed away in August, 1996 and is buried in San Antonio, Texas. Included in the lot with the LCH-86’s Coast Guard flag is a framed and mounted landing map marked with minefields and landing lanes, as well as a photograph of Signalman White and a small bag of Sand purportedly from Omaha Beach. Condition: Flag shows some fraying on edges with staining and darkening consistent with sea and battle usage. 2" tear on top section of hoist with fading of stenciling and darkening grommets. Map is in good condition, some folding and light tearing to edges which is to be expected. A fine example of a scarce D-Day relic attributed to the U.S. Coast Guard.