New Bedford to honor U.S. sailors and soldiers lost during Exercise Tiger

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — The 749 United States soldiers and sailors killed during the April 28, 1944 attack on the U.S. training operation Exercise Tiger will be honored by the New Bedford City Veterans’ Advisory Board.

The memorial ceremony will mark the 80th anniversary of the attack and will be held on Sunday, April 28 at 1 p.m. at the Exercise Tiger Memorial at Fort Taber Park.

In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held inside the Fort Taber Military Museum, also at Fort Taber Park.

There will be remarks by Mayor Jon Mitchell and speakers from the New Bedford Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Family members of the late Louis Souza, Vincent Ricciardi and William O’Connor, Exercise Tiger participants, will be recognized.

Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans Services Jon Santiago will present a memorial wreath.

There will be music provided by the Navy Band Northeast Brass Quintet and an artillery cannon salute will be performed by Alpha Battery 1st Battalion 101st Field Artillery Regiment of the Massachusetts Army National Guard.

All veterans are welcome to attend.

The ceremony will be followed by the unveiling of the updated Operation Exercise Tiger Exhibit and the restored map of the 212th Field Artillery.

This map was restored with Community Preservation Act Funds.

Exercise Tiger was a D-Day dry run that was ambushed by a German E-boat flotilla, which sank two America vessels and severely damaged a third.

The D-Day dry run