Captain Robert Barnes Ware (ASN O-387982) was born on December 30, 1914 in Amherst County, Virginia. His father, Dr. Reuben Barnes “Doc” Ware, and his mother, Birdie Drummond, were both born and raised in Amherst County, Virginia. His father was a family doctor for many years in Amherst County. Robert was the ninth of his parent’s ten children. He had four older brothers, four older sisters, and a younger sister.

Robert attended schools in Amherst County and graduated from Amherst High School in 1933. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute’s pre-med program and graduated in 1936 after only three years. He attended the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. While at Medical College, Robert married Virginia native, Margaret Frances Wood, in her hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia on June 30, 1938. He received his MD from the Medical College of Virginia on May 31, 1940. In June 20, 1940 he was named to the staff of the Lynchburg Hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia. Later in 1940, he volunteered for service in the Virginia National Guard. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was called into military service.

Robert was stationed at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania. He trained there and went to officer’s school. Also, he attended the Medical Field Service School with a focus on medical equipment and doctrine suitable for the battlefield. Upon completion he was commissioned a Captain and was assigned to the 104th Medical Battalion in the 116th Infantry Regiment in the 29th Infantry Division. He was surgeon for the 1st Battalion of the 116th Regiment and joined them at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where the regiment was training and conducting exercises. Casualties during training and exercises were an accepted feature for the military. In March 1942, his son, Robert Barnes Ware, Jr., was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. In September 1942 the entire 29th Infantry Division boarded the Queen Mary and departed for England. Unknown at the time, the division would be stationed in England for almost two years.

In October 1942 they arrived in England and were stationed at Tidworth where they would train for seven months. By the spring of 1943, the 29th Division was the only U.S. division stationed in England. In June 1943, the 116th Regiment along with the rest of the 29th Division left Tidwell to make room for incoming American troops. They were transferred to Devon and assumed coastal defensive duties near Plymouth. In September the 116th Infantry Regiment began training at the U.S. Army Assault Training Center on Woolacombe Beach. In May 1944, the 116th Regiment participated in Exercise Fabius I at Slapton Sands, a final rehearsal before D-Day.

For the invasion of Normandy, the 116th Infantry Regiment was to lead the assault on Omaha Beach to the west of the 1st Infantry Division's 16th Infantry Regiment, and they would be temporarily attached to the 1st Infantry Division. Companies A, G, F, and E of the 116th Infantry Regiment would lead the assault and land at 06:30hrs. The 1st Battalion of the 116th Regiment would take Vierville-sur-Mer and the 2nd Battalion (Companies E, F, G, and H) would capture Saint Laurent-sur-Mer. The 3rd Battalion would be in reserve. Robert would be in one of three LCAs (Landing Craft Assault) that would land on the Dog Green sector (western most) at 07:10hrs, i.e. 40 minutes after the first wave. On May 15, 1944 the 116th Regiment moved to Dorset in southern England. On June 3, 1944 the 1st Battalion boarded the troop carrier, SS Empire Javelin, at Weymouth. At 02:30 on June 6, 1944 the invasion fleet had arrived in the Channel and dropped anchor 12 miles from the Normandy coast.

The three LCAs of the HQ Company came into the beach at 07:10 and faced relatively little fire. Once they men left the craft in 4-5 feet of water, bullets began to fly around them. Captain Robert B. Ware was cut down by machine gun fire with a headshot as he was trying to reach a sandbar. He was killed instantly. The Captains of Companies A, B, and D of the 1st Battalion were also killed on D-Day. Casualties for the 1st Battalion of the 116th was close to 50% for D-Day. The 116th Infantry Regiment would later earn the Presidential Unit Citation and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Captain Robert B. Ware was posthumously awarded the bronze star for valor and a purple heart. He was laid to rest at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. He was survived by his widow, who later remarried, and his son. He was also survived by his father and his nine siblings. His older brother, Lt. Col. Howard Turlington Ware, served in the Army Dental Corps during WWII.

Sources:

1920 United States Federal Census
1930 United States Federal Census
1940 United States Federal Census
Virginia, U.S., Marriage Records, 1936-2014
Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current
U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949
U.S., World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78923489/marriage-of-wood-ware/?xid=637
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78962175/the-times-dispatch/?xid=637
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78962023/the-times-dispatch/?xid=637
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43044377/robert-b-ware/?xid=637
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78923680/obituary-for-ware-ware/?xid=637
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76891976/robert-barnes-ware
https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vcu-tm/vircuh00034.xml
https://www.dday-overlord.com/bataille-normandie/after-action-reports/29th/116th-ir/1st-bn/hq-coy
http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/omaha/en_page.php?page=land116
http://perpus.univpancasila.ac.id/repository/EBUPT180146.pdf
https://www.worldwar2files.com/29thinfantrydivision/index.html#116
https://29thdivisionassociation.com/29th-division-116th-infantry/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/116th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States
https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=118693

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 smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Robert B Ware