Operations Map First US Army
Identified to Lt. Joseph Capuano - 3409th Ordnance Medium Automotive Maintenence Company
Original map titled: 'Operations of First United States Army in Europe, June 6, 1944 to May 9, 1945.' The multi-layered image was drawn by the chief draftsman of the First Army Artillery Section, Technical Sergeant Einar Larssen, who cleverly hid his name in the compass rose. The map was published in May of 1945, shortly after V-E day, by the 654th Engineer Topographic Battalion.
This map covers the First US Army's traject from England to Normandy, France, through Belgium and finally to the Elbe River in Germany. The campaigns of the First Army are listed on the stones in the arch, with the Normandy Assault occupying keystone. Around the arch, illustrations of Army life appear in shadows, including soldiers in a tank turret, a squad on patrol, engineers working, and anti-aircraft artillery succesfully downing an anemy plane. Surrounding the map are the names of commanding officers and their respective unit, while the map itself is overlaid on a silhouette showing the efforts of combined arms – infantry, engineering, anti-aircraft, reconnaissance, communications, and more.
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Lt. Joseph Capuano
Lieutenant
Joseph Capuano
Lt. Joseph Capuano
Second Lieutenant Joseph Capuano, #01556101, was assigned to the 3409th Ordnance Medium Automotive Maintenance Company from the 40th Replacement Battalion early July 1944. At the time this unit was stationed near Trevieres, a village located inland from Omaha Beach. The 3409th Ord. MAM Co., part of the 86th Ordnance Battalion, was a service unit in the ETO during WWII, tasked with repairing and maintaining heavy vehicles, tanks and weapons.