First Sergeant Henry S. Golas, United States Army, Service Number: 31061151.

Early Life

Henry S. Golas was born in 9 January 1918 in Massachusetts. ++At some point his family surname was changed from Golash to Golas++. His father, born about 1885 in Poland was a Weaver in a cotton mill. His mother Mary was born about 1888 and died in 1950 was also born in Poland. The 1930 Census indicates Henry had four older siblings; one brother and three sisters and two younger siblings; a brother and a sister.

In 1935, Henry worked as a Salesman in a meat market in Central Falls, Rhode Island. After marrying his wife, Genevieve, he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

Military

On 3 February 1942, Henry Golas entered the U.S. Army at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. After basic training and additional follow-on training, he was assigned to Company C, 2nd Ranger Battalion.

1stSgt. Henry S. Golas was a member of the 2ndRanger Battalion that was assigned the mission of mounting the cliffs and attacking the guns of Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France. Golas volunteered for the 2ndRanger Battalion, a group of men known for their incredible physical and mental fitness. Golas advanced through the ranks and was soon promoted to first sergeant of Company ‘C’.

In preparation for D-Day, the men of the 2ndRanger Battalion were trained to scale the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and at Pointe de la Percée. It was a dangerous but necessary mission to be carried out. He trained with his men for a year before heading to Normandy.

The 2nd Battalion landed at Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6. Witnesses confirm that Golas never made it to the cliffs. He paused at the water’s edge to help and encourage his men. As Ronald Lane describes in his book Rudder’s Rangers, “Golas was still at the water’s edge when suddenly he was hit by machine gun bullets. He raised his rifle and started charging across the sand, determined and in pain. The German machine gunner continued to fire, hitting Golas with every step he took. He fell to his knees, tried to raise his rifle but couldn’t, and then he fell forward as though with his last breath he wanted to continue the charge.”

**Death **

On 6 June 1944, First Sergeant Henry S. Golas was Killed in Action on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France during the D-Day invasion. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal.

He is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France, Plot:, J Row: 6, Grave 4 and also memorialized on a cenotaph at the Rangers Memorial in Cricqueville-en-Bessin, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55906722/henry-s-golas

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=109395

https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/golas%3Dhenry

http://abmc.nomadmobileguides.com/Normandy.php?page=narrative&id=cont-2242

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4721/images/41271_316077-00472?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.19599995.299774676.1612380764-1128903496.1596401247&pId=1789569

"This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story."