Francis Patrick “Frankie” Briody, Jr. was born on August 7, 1921 in Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York. He was the son of Francis Patrick Briody and Alice Theresa Kellam Briody. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Private in the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. On 6 June, 1944, as the units of the 18th Infantry were landing on the beach in the vicinity of St. Laurent, France, Private Francis P. Briody, Headquarters Company came ashore as a passenger in a 1/4 ton vehicle loaded with valuable communication equipment. As they landed, during a heavy barrage of artillery and small arms fire, the driver of the vehicle was wounded, and Pvt Briody, doing everything in his power to save the valuable equipment, moved to the driver's seat, but found that the truck was stalled in the sand of the beach. Then, with utter disregard for his own safety, and in the face of fierce enemy fire of all kinds, he got out of the truck and attempted to free the wheels. After working diligently for some time he realized that his efforts were in vain and decided to wait until later that night when conditions would possibly be more favorable. He then dug in on the beach and began his wait. About 2130 hours he left his protected position, again exposing himself to enemy fire, to make another attempt at salvaging the stranded vehicle. As he neared the truck an enemy artillery shell struck an LCT moored nearby and the explosion killed Pvt Briody. He is now buried in Saint Charle's Cemetery, East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA.

Note:
Military databases and posthumous documents give his date of death as June 7; however, the eyewitnesses and the original medical report indicate he was killed in the late night June 6, and not officially pronounced dead until the 7th.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com