What’s a little tinnitus among friends?

Or, “Pardon, I didn’t catch that…” for the rest of your life. Official period caption: “American howitzers shell German forces retreating near Carentan, France. 11 July 1944.” Note the shoulder patch has been obscured by the censors. Photographer: Franklin. U.S. Signal Corps Archive SC 191933 The above was taken among the attached artillery train of the U.S. 4th “Ivy” Division, either of the 29th, 42nd, or 44th Field Artillery Battalions, all of which fielded 105mm M1 howitzers at the time. The Ivy Division first came ashore at Utah Beach on D-Day, and the above image was snapped as it was inching its way towards Paris, which it would help liberate in August. They went on to keep fighting across Northern France and into Germany, slugging through the Hürtgen Forest and clocking in during the Battle of the Bulge. Recognized as a Liberator unit, they marched into the Dachau subcamp near Haunstetten in late April 1945 and were the most welcome thing anyone could set their eyes on. Logging…