Walking in the Footsteps of Medal of Honor Recipient Jimmie Monteith on Omaha Beach

There are places in Normandy where simply standing on the ground can change the way you understand D-Day.

WN 60 on Omaha Beach is one of them.

Stand on that bluff and look down toward the water. From up there, Omaha Beach seems completely exposed. You can immediately understand why the German position was so formidable. An invading force coming ashore below had to cross an open beach, get past obstacles and mines, survive machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire, and somehow find a way up the bluffs.

You almost wonder how anyone ever got off Omaha Beach.

One of the men who helped make that happen was First Lieutenant Jimmie W. Monteith Jr., a 26-year-old officer with the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division.

Monteith was killed on D-Day and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on Omaha Beach.

While preparing my book, The Traveling Professor's Guide to Visiting the Normandy Invasion Beaches, I wanted to understand his story in a different way.

So I tried to walk in the footsteps of Jimmie Monteith, beginning near the shingle-covered beach, moving inland toward the road and eventually climbing toward the German defenses at WN 60.

What I experienced cannot possibly be compared with what Monteith experienced on June 6, 1944.

Nobody was shooting at me.

Mortar rounds were not exploding around me.

There were no machine guns firing from the bluff.

And I didn't have to wonder whether my next step might be onto a land mine.

But walking that ground gave me a much greater appreciation for what Jimmie Monteith did on D-Day.

Who Was Jimmie Monteith?

Jimmie W. Monteith Jr. was born July 1, 1917, in Low Moor, Virginia.

During World War II, he served as a first lieutenant in the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, better known as the "Big Red One."

On June 6, 1944, the 1st Infantry Division was assigned to assault Omaha Beach as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy. The 16th Infantry Regiment landed on the eastern portion of Omaha in the Easy Red and Fox Green sectors.

Monteith came ashore with the initial assault waves near Colleville-sur-Mer.

He was about to become part of one of the most difficult and deadly battles of D-Day.

What Did Jimmie Monteith Do on D-Day?

The official Medal of Honor citation gives us an extraordinary picture of what Monteith did that morning.

After landing under extremely heavy German fire, Monteith did not simply look for cover and remain there.

He moved up and down the beach, reorganizing scattered American soldiers and preparing them to continue the attack.

Then he led men across exposed terrain toward the relative protection of the bluff.

That alone would have taken remarkable courage.

But Monteith wasn't finished.

After reaching the bluff, he went back.

He retraced his route across the exposed ground toward the beach, where he found two American tanks unable to effectively see or engage the German positions firing on the troops below.

Monteith exposed himself to enemy fire and began directing the tanks.

Then, on foot, he guided the tanks through a minefield and into firing positions where they could attack German defensive positions.

Think about that for a moment.

He had already made it off the exposed beach.

Then he voluntarily went back across it.

The German Strongpoint at WN 60

To really understand the significance of Monteith's actions, it helps to understand the battlefield.

Above the eastern end of Omaha Beach was a network of German fortifications, including the strongpoint known as WN 60.

"WN" is an abbreviation for the German word Widerstandsnest, meaning a resistance nest or strongpoint.

Today, WN 60 is one of the most revealing places to visit on the Normandy invasion beaches.

If you ever stand there and look down toward Omaha Beach, the first thing that strikes you is how advantageous the German position was.

It is almost the perfect place from which to stop an invasion.

The high ground gives an extraordinary view of the beach below.

The soldiers coming ashore were exposed.

There was relatively little protection.

The Germans had prepared defensive positions overlooking the very ground the Americans needed to cross.

Looking down from WN 60 today, with the beach peaceful below you, it is difficult not to think:

How did anyone ever make it up here?

Walking Jimmie Monteith's Path

That was the question I wanted to understand while researching The Traveling Professor's Guide to Visiting the Normandy Invasion Beaches.

I started near the shingle-covered portion of Omaha Beach.

From there, I walked inland.

I crossed the terrain toward the road and continued upward toward WN 60, doing my best to follow the general path Monteith and the men around him would have taken.

Today, it is simply a walk.

On June 6, 1944, it was a killing ground.

That distinction became more apparent with every step.

As I walked inland, I would occasionally stop and turn around.

The beach seemed farther away.

Then I would look up toward the bluff.

From below, the German position looked even more imposing.

And then I would remind myself that Monteith wasn't taking a leisurely walk through Normandy.

He was moving through this terrain while under enemy fire.

And Monteith Crossed It More Than Once

This is one of the parts of Monteith's story that I find most difficult to comprehend.

He didn't simply cross the exposed ground once.

After reaching the bluff, he went back toward the beach.

He returned to the tanks and helped guide them forward.

In other words, the terrain I was carefully studying and walking across on a peaceful Normandy day was ground that Monteith repeatedly crossed while Germans were actively trying to kill him.

I didn't have to worry about artillery.

I didn't have to worry about machine guns.

I didn't have to worry about mines.

He had to worry about all of them.

Walking that route does not allow someone today to know what D-Day felt like.

But it certainly gives you a better appreciation for what the men who landed there were asked to do.

Why Was Jimmie Monteith Awarded the Medal of Honor?

Monteith received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary courage and leadership above and beyond the call of duty.

His actions included:

• Landing with the initial assault waves under heavy German fire.
• Moving along the exposed beach to reorganize American soldiers.
• Leading men across open terrain toward the bluff.
• Returning across that exposed ground toward the beach.
• Reaching two American tanks under heavy fire.
• Personally guiding those tanks through a minefield.
• Directing them into positions where they could fire upon German defenses.
• Returning to his men and continuing to lead the attack.

His Medal of Honor citation describes him as being completely exposed to intense enemy fire while directing the tanks.

This wasn't courage demonstrated during one brief moment.

Monteith repeatedly placed himself in danger in order to move the attack forward.

What Happened to Jimmie Monteith?

American soldiers succeeded in getting off Omaha Beach and penetrating the German defenses.

Monteith continued inland with his men.

Later that same day, German forces counterattacked.

Monteith continued moving among his troops, directing the defense.

During that fighting, Jimmie Monteith was killed.

It was still June 6, 1944.

D-Day.

He was only 26 years old.

His Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously.

Could Omaha Beach Have Turned Out Differently?

It would be too much to say that Jimmie Monteith alone determined the outcome of D-Day.

D-Day involved more than 150,000 Allied troops, an enormous naval force, airborne divisions, thousands of aircraft and fighting across five invasion beaches.

But when you stand at WN 60, you begin to understand how uncertain the outcome was at Omaha Beach.

The Germans occupied commanding defensive positions.

The Americans below them were exposed.

The initial assault was badly disrupted.

Yet soldiers began finding ways through the defenses and up the bluffs.

Men like Jimmie Monteith were instrumental in making that happen.

Had officers and soldiers like Monteith not continued pushing forward, reorganizing troops and attacking the German strongpoints, the outcome at Omaha Beach could have been very different.

And failure at Omaha would have created enormous problems for the entire Normandy invasion.

Monteith was one of those men who, at a critical moment, helped turn a disastrous situation into a successful assault.

Stand at WN 60 and Look Down

There is something I strongly recommend doing when visiting Omaha Beach.

Go to WN 60.

Stand on the high ground.

Then look down.

Don't just look at the scenery.

Look at the beach as a battlefield.

Imagine landing down there.

Imagine carrying equipment through the water.

Imagine crossing the open ground.

Imagine seeing the bluff in front of you.

Then imagine German machine guns and mortars firing from positions above.

It changes the way you see Omaha Beach.

From WN 60, the German defensive advantage becomes painfully obvious.

And Jimmie Monteith's actions become even more remarkable.

Where Is Jimmie Monteith Buried?

Jimmie Monteith never came home from Normandy.

He is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach.

His grave is:

Plot I, Row 20, Grave 12.

The Normandy American Cemetery contains the graves of 9,389 American military dead, most of whom died during the D-Day landings and subsequent operations. Monteith is one of the Medal of Honor recipients buried there.

There is something particularly moving about visiting his grave after walking the ground where he fought.

The beach is nearby.

WN 60 is nearby.

The battlefield where he earned the Medal of Honor surrounds you.

And Jimmie Monteith remains there today.

Visiting Omaha Beach Is Different When You Know the Stories

One of the reasons I wrote The Traveling Professor's Guide to Visiting the Normandy Invasion Beaches was to help travelers do more than simply drive from one famous D-Day site to another.

There is certainly nothing wrong with standing on Omaha Beach, visiting Pointe du Hoc or walking among the crosses at the Normandy American Cemetery.

But Normandy becomes much more meaningful when you know the stories behind the places.

Jimmie Monteith connects several of those places.

You can stand on the beach where he landed.

You can walk toward the bluff.

You can climb toward WN 60 and look back over Omaha Beach.

And then you can visit his grave at the Normandy American Cemetery.

Suddenly these are not simply separate stops on a Normandy sightseeing itinerary.

They become parts of the same story.

Walking in the Footsteps of Jimmie Monteith

I would never suggest that walking Monteith's route today allows us to experience anything remotely comparable to what he experienced on D-Day.

My greatest danger was probably watching where I put my feet.

Monteith faced mines, artillery, mortars and machine-gun fire.

But making that walk gave me something that reading a military history could not.

It gave me a sense of the terrain.

It allowed me to see the distance.

It allowed me to look up toward WN 60 and understand the tremendous advantage held by the German defenders.

And when I finally stood on that bluff and looked back down toward Omaha Beach, one thought kept coming back to me:

How did those men ever get up here?

Jimmie Monteith was one of the reasons they did.

That is why, when visiting the Normandy invasion beaches, I believe it is worth taking the time to do more than see where history happened.

Sometimes you need to walk where it happened.