By (And the rescue of a wounded American soldier)
This roadside monument on a long straight stretch of the D31 road between the villages of Larchamp and Ernée in the Mayenne department of France, marks the point of first contact on 4th August 1944 between US troops advancing south from Normandy, German forces holding Ernée, and the local population, which included members of the Resistance who were liaising with the advancing US Army.
Lieutenant Richard J. Blaha, with Privates Armin F. Michel, John Paroskie and John Smith from Troop D (1st Platoon) of the 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron were serving as the reconnaissance unit for the 5th Armored Division. Around 6.30pm they were driving past this exact spot when their M8 Greyhound armoured car was hit by a German anti-tank gun concealed further up the road.
Lt Blaha, Pvt Michel & Pvt Paroskie were killed immediately. However John Smith survived the explosion and was found the next morning badly burned and hiding behind a hedge by a group of curious young locals.
They carried him in a wheelbarrow to the nearest farm where he was patched up before being taken to the hospital in Ernée, which had been abandoned by the Germans during the night. Needing more expert medical treatment he was then taken by two brave unnamed men and a young woman in an ambulance across enemy lines to the hospital at Laval some 30 kilometres away.
John Smith survived his ordeal thanks to the courage of local people and was able to return to his family in the USA in 1945. He died in 1954.
This monument was erected on 4th July 1948. It pays tribute to the local Résistance fighters and to the American soldiers who paid with their lives for the liberation of Larchamp and Ernée.
