From Omaha Beach to Berlin: Earnest Thomas "E.T." Roberts

Quick answer: Who was E.T. Roberts?

Earnest Thomas "E.T." Roberts was a 116th Infantry soldier who was first off his landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, lost all his equipment in the water, and fought on with a rifle handed to him by a dying soldier. He served 29 months in Europe, kept silent about the war for fifty years, and died in 2020 at 96.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, E.T. Roberts was the first man off his landing craft at Omaha Beach. Weighed down by his pack, he sank, and by the time he reached the sand he had lost all his equipment. A mortally wounded soldier handed him his rifle and told him to shoot as many of the enemy as he could. By nightfall, Roberts was one of only seven men from his craft still together and fighting. "You're not trying to protect yourself; you're trying to protect others," he said later. "You're trained as a group to take care of one another." He fought with the 116th Infantry in the hedgerows toward Saint-Lo, was wounded, spent 28 days in a hospital, and went back to the line. He spent 29 months in Europe and earned four battle stars. He came home in 1946 and married Lola Mae Isaacs that September. For fifty years he didn't talk about the war. On the 50th anniversary of D-Day, his son Randy took a reluctant E.T. to a commemoration in Los Angeles, where he stood at the podium and, through tears, spoke about it for the first time. He died on October 16, 2020, at 96.

Why it matters for leaders: Many veterans carry their experience in silence, and sometimes all it takes is someone patient enough to invite the story.

Q: What unit did E.T. Roberts serve in?

A: The 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, which landed in the first waves at Omaha Beach.

Q: When did he first speak publicly about D-Day?

A: At a 50th anniversary commemoration in Los Angeles in 1994, after his son persuaded him to attend.

Read the full article on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-omaha-beach-berlin-earnest-thomas-et-roberts-john-fenzel

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation