D-Day Remembrance: The Story of Virgil Tangborn

Today marks the anniversary of D-Day — June 6, 1944 — when Allied forces began the liberation of Europe in the largest seaborne invasion in history. More than 150,000 troops landed on the beaches of Normandy that day. Among those who followed in the days after was a young man from Bemidji, Minnesota: Virgil Tangborn.

Private First Class Virgil Tangborn

After his induction into the U.S. Army, Virgil trained at Camp Barkeley near Abilene, Texas. A talented French horn player, he was selected for the 90th Infantry Division band, led by Lin Arison, and also served as a bugler. In the spring of 1944, the band arrived in England and performed concerts for Allied units and local communities.

But everything changed in the final days before D-Day. The band’s members — musicians all — were retrained as medics and stretcher-bearers. Virgil was assigned to Group C and attached to the 315th Medical Battalion.

On June 6, 1944, Virgil boarded a ship in Cardiff, Wales. Two days later, he landed on Utah Beach, and helped set up a forward triage site in a hedged field behind the front lines.

On June 10, the 90th Infantry Division entered combat near the Fière causeway. That night, despite the red crosses clearly painted on the medical tents, a German artillery barrage struck the site, killing many of the wounded and destroying supplies. The medical team regrouped and carried on, now operating even closer to the front.

Four days later, on June 14, the medical center was shelled again, along with a nearby ammunition depot. Amid the chaos, Virgil Tangborn was killed by a shell while trying to rescue the wounded driver of a burning ammunition truck near Amfreville.

He was just 24 years old.

Back in Minnesota, a letter written to Virgil by Luella of Guthrie was still in the mail. Postmarked June 23, 1944, it had been sent June 11, just three days before his death. The letter, filled with news of home and community life, was returned with a single line written in blue ink: “Deceased, 14 June 1944 – Duward W. Randolph, 1st Lt NY.”

Today, the Beltrami County Historical Society is honored to preserve the Virgil Tangborn Collection, which includes his Purple Heart, awarded posthumously; his 48-star American flag; and that final letter from Luella. These personal artifacts serve as tangible reminders of his bravery, his humanity, and the cost of war.

Virgil Tangborn is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. His name is also etched into The Four Braves Memorial in Normandy — a tribute to four members of the 90th Infantry Division Band who were killed in action.

Here in Bemidji, we remember him not only as a fallen soldier, but as a musician, a medic, and a young man who gave his life in the effort to save another.

His story is our story. We remember.