JL Doolittle standing in front of his home in Edgefield
Story by J. W. “Pete” Peterson, American Legion Post 30
As the sun rose over Edgefield County on the morning of June 6, 1944, residents awoke to the familiar warmth of a South Carolina summer, unaware that a local son was among the first wave of soldiers landing on D-Day. While life carried on quietly in the rural towns and farmland of Edgefield, 26-year-old U.S. Army Sergeant James “JL” Doolittle was wading through surf and a storm of bullets with no cover and little chance of survival…