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4-8 Purple Heart Lane

The 3rd battalion of the 502nd paratroop infantry regiment was assigned to secure a route to Carentan, a vital link between Utah and Omaha beaches, through highway N13. Surrounded by flooded farmland, the paratroopers were bottlenecked through a series of bridges on the causeway leading into Carentan. Under intense machinegun and artillery fire from the German defenders, the troops took heavy losses. In an act of bravery, Lt. Col. Cole and seventy of his men proceeded to mount a bayonet charge across the field under the cover of artillery smoke to secure a farmhouse. The Germans were quick to launch a counter attack. However, they were driven away by the paratroopers, thus securing a route into Carentan. This road came to be known as "Purple Heart Lane" from the heavy losses that the paratroopers sustained.