Edward Regan – Sergeant, United States Army

From a contemporary press report:  4 March 1998

When Ed Regan, 75, of Atlanta made the June 19, 1944 cover of Life magazine, face-down on the beach during D-Day, Mr. Regan was photographed by World War II photographer Robert Capa.

The Mass of Christian burial for Mr. Regan, who died Monday of cancer at his residence, will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Atlanta. A.S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements. The burial service will be at 10 a.m. March 16 at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.

Single-handedly, Mr. Regan wiped out the Germans and later was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry Badge and the French Croix de Guerre.

A native of Olyphant, Pa, graduate of Fordham University and a career social worker in the federal government’s Atlanta region.

Survivors include his wife, Eleanor Regan of Atlanta; two sons, Michael A. and Edward J. “Ted” Regan Jr., both of Atlanta; three daughters, Mary Ellen Skehan, Roxanne Bennett and Kathleen Hulsey, all of Atlanta; a brother, Gerard Regan of Holiday, Fla.; a sister, Gertrude Dempsey of Matawan, N.J.; and nine grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 2855 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, GA 30329.

Robert Capa went with the troops on D-Day who landed at Omaha  Beach. One of his subjects was an American, Edward Regan, from a Pennsylvania coal town.  He didn’t even know his photo was being taken.

Many soldiers became seasick on the way over, and Edward nearly drowned in the deep water trying to make it to the beach while being shot at.  It seemed like a suicide mission.

However, once again, Robert Capa made it through and had shot 70  images. At that time, he was taking photos for Life magazine.  The film went to London for processing and by accident the majority of the negatives melted due to faulty development or equipment. Only 11 pictures were even salvageable and those appeared blurred.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard