In this group photo of men from the 327th GIR, Captain Evans is standing third from right.

Next to him fourth from right, is his runner, Sgt. Louis M. Simpson, who is best remembered as a poet and 1964 Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry. Simpson’s poetry reflects his wartime experiences, his cynicism over the debased values of contemporary America, and his appreciation for common Americans.

In his poem, CARENTAN O CARENTAN, a poem about his own experiences of American paratroopers ambushed by German soldiers in Carentan, France during the Normandy invasion, Simpson describes the shattering loss of innocence wrought with war. It was his first contact with the enemy, a regiment of Germans wearing camouflage smocks aka “leopard suits.”

My 101st Airborne father, David Clinton Tharp was with the 502nd PIR whose letters are now preserved in the book COMES A SOLDIER’S WHISPER, would reflect that Carentan was the bloodiest battle of all which later came to be known as “Purple Heart Lane” for the vast loss of life and injuries thus the awarding of the Purple Heart Medal to soldiers and their families.

“Carentan O Carentan
Before we met with you
We never yet had lost a man
Or known what death could do.”
~ excerpt from Carentan poem by Louis Simpson

Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, remembering history and our veterans one day at a time.

Soldier Dedication youtu.be/EJ1H9N-gIU0
comesasoldierswhisper.com/buy/

Photo/Text Source: Orange is the Color of the Day