Percy Lee Hedgepeth

Staff Sergeant Percy Lee Hedgepeth was killed in action on July 11, 1944 in Normandy, France during World War II.  He was 25 years old.

Percy L. Hedgepeth was born on June 25, 1919 in Kittrell, North Carolina, the son of Percy H. Hedgepeth and Lillie A. Hedgepeth.

SSgt Hedgepeth enlisted in the National Guard in Henderson, N.C. in 1940  serving with the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division.  The Regiment was deployed to the European Theater of War in February 1944

The 30th Infantry Division landed at Omaha Beach on June 10, 1944 and entered combat five days later.  It participated in the hedgerow fighting in the Normandy Campaign in the following weeks.

On the evening of July 10, the 3d Battalion, 120th Infantry, moved into position at La Roche and dug in, establishing road blocks and all-around security. The unit had been informed that friendly tanks were in front of their position.  During darkness on the evening of July 11, a German tank and infantry column neared the battalion's roadblock. The guards let them through believing the column was friendly. A few minutes later orders were heard in German, and the Battalion Command Post was notified at once. The battalion was alerted and proceeded to knock out and mop up everything that got through and sent antitank riflemen and bazooka squads down the main column knocking out everything it could find. A count the next morning revealed that five tanks and 4 armored scout cars, two of which carried mounted flame throwers and the others mounting light field pieces, had been completely knocked out. SSgt Hedgepeth was killed in the German counterattack on July 11, 1944.

Staff Sergeant Percy L. Hedgepeth is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Département du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.

Last edited: 30 May 2026