First U.S. Flag Carried Over the Ludendorff Bridge at Battle of Remagen Presented to SC National Guard

From the July 10, 2021, News 19 (South Carolina)  "Flag flown overseas in WW II donated to to state guard" by Emily Correll.

A piece of American history was presented in Columbia Saturday from World War II.  A torn and tattered U.S. flag that was at one of the major turning points of the Allied war in Europe.

According to Major General  Van McCarthy, Adjutant General of the South Carolina National Guard, "the flag  that was presented here  today was the first American flag that crossed the Ludendorff Bridge in Match 1944 as part of the Allied final invasion of Europe into Germany."

At the Battle of Remagen, Corporal Gordon Galbraith of Greenville, S.C., tied the flag to a stick and carried across the bridge under heavy German fire.  According to MG McCarthy, said that when Galbraith was asked why he did it, he replied, "I wanted to let them know that the Americans were coming and we're going to make things right."'

During the Battle of Remagen in Germany, Allied forces captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River which the Germans had attempted to destroy to slow the Allied advance.

--GreGen