He Buried the Fallen After D-Day: WWII Veteran George Ciampa

What was D-Day like for an 18-year-old whose job was to bury the dead?

George Ciampa was a kid from Boston, one of 10 children of Italian immigrants, who wanted to fly fighter planes. He failed the Air Corps eye test twice. Drafted at 18, he was put into graves registration, the Army units that recovered and buried American soldiers. He landed on Utah Beach in June 1944, 10 days before his 19th birthday, and spent the next 11 months gathering the fallen across France, Belgium and Germany.

In Episode 115, the first of five conversations, Christian Taylor and co-hosts Josh Lindsay and Jason Rugg sit down with George Ciampa, then 95. He starts with the deaths that frightened him as a little boy, the family's 1934 drive from Boston to California, and his job building Navy dive bombers at Douglas Aircraft. Then he takes us to England, where his company, the 607th Graves Registration Company, lost 18 men in Exercise Tiger before the invasion, and across the Channel, where a torpedo plane attacked his ship at night.

George describes wading ashore on Utah Beach, burying paratroopers in their parachutes, starting the temporary cemeteries at Sainte-Mère-Église, and breaking down two weeks in, when a lieutenant put a pistol to his ribs and sent him back to work. He explains why only about 40% of the Americans who fell in Europe are buried there today, and why the marble markers in those cemeteries carry no date of birth. Decades later, George became a documentary filmmaker himself, and he spent the rest of his life teaching students about what he called "the high price of freedom."

George Ciampa died on January 3, 2024, at the age of 98. We are grateful he trusted us with his story.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How a boy from Boston ended up in a World War II graves registration company
• Why George never became the fighter pilot he wanted to be
• What happened to the 607th Graves Registration Company in Exercise Tiger
• What crossing the Channel and wading ashore on Utah Beach was like
• How the first temporary American cemeteries in Normandy were started
• What it cost a 19-year-old to handle the dead every day
• Why most of the Americans who fell in Europe were sent home after the war
• Why the markers in American military cemeteries show no date of birth
• What George felt walking down his street when he came home in January 1946

CHAPTERS

0:00 Born in Boston, One of 10 Children

4:06 From Aircraft Plant to Graves Registration

9:05 Exercise Tiger and an English Family

13:47 Crossing the Channel Under Fire

17:03 Wading Ashore on Utah Beach

22:00 Temporary Cemeteries and a Night in Paris

26:46 Breaking Down and the Price of Freedom

30:37 The Bulge and the 40% Who Stayed

37:32 Coming Home to a Christmas Tree in January

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What did graves registration units do in World War II?

Graves registration companies recovered, identified and buried American soldiers who died in combat. George Ciampa's unit, the 607th Graves Registration Company, landed in Normandy in June 1944 and started temporary cemeteries as the Army moved across France, Belgium and Germany.

What was Exercise Tiger?

Exercise Tiger was a rehearsal for the D-Day landings off Slapton Sands, England, in April 1944. German E-boats attacked the landing ships, and hundreds of American soldiers were killed. George Ciampa says his company, the 607th Graves Registration Company, lost 18 men that night, and the survivors were kept apart afterward to protect the secret of the invasion.

Why are only some of the American soldiers who died in Europe buried there?

According to George Ciampa, after permanent cemeteries were built in 1947, families could choose to bring their soldier home at no cost or leave him in Europe. About 60% came home. So the graves in cemeteries like Normandy or Henri-Chapelle represent only about 40% of the Americans first buried in temporary cemeteries nearby.

Why don't American military cemetery markers in Europe show a date of birth?

George Ciampa noticed it when he returned to Normandy for the 50th anniversary: the white marble markers give the soldier's name, rank, unit, state and date of death, but not a date of birth.

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ABOUT THE GUEST

George Ciampa

World War II Veteran and Documentary Filmmaker

George Ciampa was born in Boston in 1925 and grew up in Southern California. He served in the 607th Graves Registration Company from Normandy through the Battle of the Bulge to the end of the war, then spent seven months in the army of occupation in Germany. He later worked for the Los Angeles Times. At 81 he began making documentaries about the price of freedom through his nonprofit, Let Freedom Ring, including Let Freedom Ring: The Lesson Is Priceless and Let Freedom Ring: Memories of France, and shared his stories with students in the United States, France and Belgium. He received the French Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre. George Ciampa died on January 3, 2024, at the age of 98.

Website: http://www.letfreedomringforall.org

ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST

Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the people behind documentaries and how the work changed them. Host Christian Taylor, director of the award-winning The Girl Who Wore Freedom, talks with filmmakers, distributors, entertainment lawyers, actors and more, from Ken Burns and PBS American Masters creator Susan Lacy to first-timers, across nearly 300 conversations. Each week brings one of two formats: a long-form conversation with the people behind films for HBO, Netflix, PBS and independent film, or The Deep Dive, where Christian takes one insight from a recent conversation and follows it wherever it leads. Listen Notes ranks the show in the top 5% of all podcasts worldwide. New episodes every week.

THE GEORGE CIAMPA SERIES

• Part 2, the Battle of the Bulge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc5I8EbJd-A
• Part 3, the army of occupation and Margot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pg8DCBaIUI
• Part 4, Margot again and his life after the war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG_KeqThEro
• Part 5, his films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eokgDr_iAGA
• Episode 215, our tribute to George after his passing, which re-airs Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9kdCAStwcI

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• George Ciampa remembered (The Palm Springs Post, 2024): https://thepalmspringspost.com/life-of-wwii-veteran-and-filmmaker-george-ciampa-to-be-celebrated-in-private-ceremony-sunday-in-palm-springs/
• George Ciampa on his mission to teach students about World War II (VFW, 2009): https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2009/9/wwii-veterans-new-mission-let-freedom-ring-in-american-classrooms