During the assault landings, Robert F. Sargent, as official photographer, while under fire from enemy shore installations, carried out his assigned duties in a cool, intelligent and praiseworthy manner, in keeping with the highest tradition of the U.S. Naval Service.
Commendation, Adm J.L. Hall, Jr., Commander Task Force 124, June 12, 1944
On the morning of June 6, 1944, Chief Photographers Mate (CPhoM) Robert F. (Bob) Sargent emerged from his below-deck bunk and, camera in hand, walked onto the pine timber planking of the Attack Transport USS Samuel Chase (APA-26) just off the coast of Normandy, France. Amongst a mix of soldiers, Coast Guardsmen, sailors, and war correspondents, including famed Life Magazine photographer Robert Capa, Sargent went about his assigned duty – documenting the invasion operations of the U.S. Coast Guard aboard his designated vessel. Much like previous seaborne invasions, Sargent captured images on his PH-47 Graflex Speed Graphic camera on 4x5 Kodak film. CPhoM Sargent later recounted: “When H-hour finally came I had a mixed feeling of pride and being downright scared. I had dreaded and looked forward to this moment for months.”
Of all the pictures, both moving and still, taken by the myriad documentarians present for the landings, Sargent’s photograph, “Invaders Wading Ashore on D-Day,” later recaptioned “Taxis to Hell – and Back – Into the Jaws of Death” (often shortened to “Into the Jaws of Death”) was quickly developed and printed for distribution to internal sources as well as stateside newspapers. June 8th was the earliest a U.S.-based publication featured the Into the Jaws of Death image; however, Sargent’s photo was not the first coast Guard D-Day photograph to reach American readers. Bob’s D-Day images were beaten out by fellow Coastie photographer CPhoM S. Scott Wigle’s depiction of a convoy of invasion craft steaming towards the French coast in the early hours of June 6th.
Following the end of the war, Into the Jaws of Death became more than a wartime photograph; it quickly morphed into the visual representation of the June 6th D-Day landings. Alongside Joe Rosenthal’s “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “V-J Day in Times Square,” and Robert Capa’s “Magnificent 11” series from Normandy, Sargent’s “Into the Jaws of Death” shares rare air with a company of photographs that, from uncertainty to triumph, symbolize an entire generation at war.
Now, 82 years later, Sargent’s magnum opus has become ingrained into not only the American, but the world-wide impression of D-Day. Given that the image is in the public
domain and reproducible without licensing issues (unlike Capa’s photographs), his iconic photograph has been used or portrayed in countless books, magazines, posters, documentaries, video games and feature films. Yet very few images from his wartime portfolio have been widely reproduced, let alone properly attributed to the lens and shutter of Robert Sargent. The truth is difficult to ignore unlike more famous photographers such as Rosenthal, Eisenstaedt, and Capa, Sargent’s name has become little more than a footnote in the annals of World War II history. His images are often credited simply to the U.S. Coast Guard – or, at times, even mistakenly attributed to Capa himself.
Who was Bob Sargent?
Born in St. Charles, Illinois, and raised in Chatham, New Jersey, Bob Sargent developed an early passion for photography and seamanship. During his childhood, Sargent was a member of the Sea Scouts, a specialized branch of the Boy Scouts of America focused on maritime skills; and he designed lighting and sets for high school plays in Chatham. Hand-selected by the Coast Guard for his work as a local New Jersey news photographer, Sargent went on to rise through the service ranks while documenting amphibious assaults on board the Chase during the war.
Sargent’s photographic work, capturing some of the war’s most iconic and harrowing events, included the invasions of Sicily (July 1943), Salerno (September 1943), Normandy (June 1944), and Southern France (August 1944) along the Provence coast. After completing his time on board the Chase in November of 1944, Sargent worked stateside at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. with public affairs missions to further document the Coast Guard’s contributions to the war effort. With the war still raging in the Pacific, he was called upon once more to sail on board the USS Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125) to document its operations. From April 1945 to October 1945, he sailed the Pacific capturing imagery as the Allies prepared for the potential invasion of mainland Japan and later, Operation Magic Carpet returning American troops to the U.S. after the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.
Known for his courage under fire, Sargent carried cameras through bullets, shells, and stormy saltwater seas around the globe to preserve an unflinching record of soldiers and sailors in combat. While we can only guess at the severity of his long-term psychological injury, Sargent’s only known physical injuries were to his shutter finger, for which he received VA disability, and his eyesight, which was dramatically reduced after his service. This is a first look into some of the remarkable images Sargent made while on board the Samuel Chase for Operation Avalanche, Neptune, and Dragoon.
Operation Avalanche
Invasion of Salerno – September 9-17, 1943
While aboard the Chase, Sargent sailed with the Southern Attack Force during Operation Avalanche, the Allied invasion of Salerno, Italy. The objective of the operation was to land Allied troops in the Gulf of Salerno, advance
inland toward Naples, and secure several strategic Italian airfields. During the assault, the Chase served as a transfer point, disembarking troops onto smaller landing craft bound for the beaches. In the opening waves of the invasion, Sargent’s assignment was to photo document all aspects of operations to include shore and shipboard operations. While photographing the offloading of supplies from the Chase – including trucks, half-tracks, ammunition, rations, and engineering equipment – Sargent and his beach battalion subjects came under direct fire from the belly of a German dive bomber that was unloading its own supply of munitions to thwart the “enemy” advance below.
For the Coast Guard photo No. 2000 captioned “Underneath Dropping Bombs,” Sargent received a citation from the U.S. Navy Photographic Institute, signed by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and famed photographer Captain Edward J. Steichen. The commendation praised his “exceptionally meritorious photography” and cited his ability to act with composure under fire with the photograph being cited as “one of the great human records of the war.” Captain Steichen headed the U.S. Navy’s Naval Aviation Photographic Unit – a group of photographers hand-selected to document carrier-based Navy operations during World War II to buoy public morale.
Operation Overlord & Neptune
Invasion of Normandy – June 6, 1944
After refitting and additional support operations in the Mediterranean, Chase sailed for England in preparation for Operation Overlord. The Chase was later assigned to the 
“Easy Red” sector of the Omaha beachhead to land amphibious assault troops as part of Operation Neptune. Sargent was tasked with capturing the first waves of American troops as they embarked and later disembarked LCVPs to attack the Normandy coastline. Sargent was lowered away at 0536 hours in a LCVP and captured several images enroute to the beach. Once the troops disembarked, he captured the image “Into the Jaws of Death” and returned to the Chase. Sargent later recalled: “We were cold and soaked to the skin even before starting. The coxswain and crew were wonderful about everything. They only had one job in mind — unload the troops safely at the right time at the right place.” Upon his return, as he climbed aboard his ship, carrying his film in a metal milk can with his wet, salt-stained cameras around his neck, Sargent is quoted as saying, “The coast of France this morning was certainly no photographer’s party”.
While back on the Chase, Sargent captured several other images, including a series of shots of the Coast Guard manned Landing Craft, Infantry, LCI-85. The craft had sustained heavy damage during the assault on Omaha and was brough in beside the Chase to further assist with damage control efforts. From his vantage point, Sargent captured photograph No. 2344 as both ships worked tirelessly to evacuate the dead and wounded from the LCI before it sank. In total, the Chase launched 15 assault waves on Omaha Beach before acting as a center for casualties for the rest of the task group and then returning to England on June 7th.
Operation Dragoon
Invasion of Southern France – August 15-September 14, 1944
In early July, on the heels of the Normandy invasion, the Chase sailed a familiar course – back to warm Mediterranean waters to participate in Operation Dragoon. The goal of this operation was to open a second front in the
southern region of France to further the Allied advance across Europe. Sargent and the Chase returned to Naples, Italy to embark assault troops for the operation and participated in the assault on August 15th outside the Bay of Pampelonne. After completing several supply voyages across the Mediterranean, the Chase sailed for Boston in late October, arriving on November 8th. Bob had participated in and documented four amphibious assaults across the European Theatre, and now his time on board the transport was complete. Following his return to the United States, Sargent completed several public affairs missions, including a reunion and photo opportunity with a fellow Coast Guardsman from LCI-85, a landing craft he had photographed on D-Day.
Later Life and Legacy
After the war, Sargent returned to civilian life near his parents and siblings in northern New Jersey. He was welcomed back to work at Eastman’s – a stationery store where he’d worked as a teen, while also taking photos for the local paper – just down the road from his temporary residence, a boarding house in Summit. Sargent headed the camera counter at Eastman’s for many years, selling photographic equipment and processing film and prints. During this period, he met and married Elizabeth “Lib” Ferry Sargent, a divorced mother of two boys, and in the late 1940s moved in with Lib and her younger son, Jeremiah “Jerry” Poinier. Sargent’s older stepson, John Poinier Jr., lived separately with his father and his father’s new family.
Sargent kept busy, working many hours at Eastman’s while keeping up with constant changes in the film and camera industries. He was heavily involved in the local Chamber of Commerce and other civic groups – raising funds for the Red Cross, running fishing derbies through the Rotary Club, and singing in the choir at the Presbyterian church. At home with Lib, he taught young Jerry how to fish, build things, and enjoy a good show tune. Sargent filled his days and nights with activity, but like many of his military peers, didn’t often speak about his extraordinary tour of duty and the psychological weight he carried.
Sadly, Sargent died by suicide on March 27, 1969, at the age of 50, with no direct descendants. He is buried in Fair Mount Cemetery in Chatham, New Jersey, next to his parents and sister and among fellow veterans of the Second World War representing every branch of the military. Last November, at the invitation of a local veterans’ organization, co-author Brennan traveled with Liza Poinier (one of Sargent’s step-grandchildren) for a Veterans’ Day ceremony honoring “Hometown Heroes” with newly created banners dedicated throughout downtown Chatham Township. Bob’s banner, complete with a portrait photo in his Coast Guard dress uniform, proudly waves on a light pole on a street in the downtown core of the Township.
Though his life ended in tragedy, Sargent’s contributions to wartime photojournalism endure. Robert F. Sargent’s work, particularly his iconic D-Day “Into the Jaws of Death,” remains a powerful visual testimony to the bravery and sacrifice of ordinary men who fought in an extraordinary war.
Through his camera lenses and photographs, Sargent’s committed to capturing the service and sacrifice of the amphibious engagements that tipped the scales of war and led to Allied victory in World War II. As he later stated:
My eyes were glued to the boat coming in next to ours, and on the water in between, boiling with bullets from hidden shore emplacements, like a mud-puddle in a hailstorm, it seemed impossible that we would make it without being riddled. As I watched the next boat, it suddenly burst into flames and smoke. A white fog like smoke, and it titled crazily as soldiers crowded to one side to get away from the flames.
Next time you see “Into the Jaws of Death,” take a moment to consider Bob Sargent’s remarkable dedication and service to our nation, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the world.