Why Normandy?

A very good question.  Why would I care so much about this EFTour going to Normandy?  Why not Paris? Why not some other well known stop in Europe?  Well, as a connoisseur of history and as a person who feels that there are always connections between the past and present, I really feel that this trip needs to bridge the space between our little town in Kentucky and the places that we will see on our journey.

WWII saw so many young men come from so many little towns all over the world that the association is evident in each memorial and each battlefield all over Europe.  I felt it when I was on my tour this last May.  No matter that I was walking through the cemeteries of British and Canadian dead, I read their headstones and wept for the youth and energy and unfilled promises buried under each one.  I felt the connection.  Nicholas County saw about 20 young lives lost in WWII in several campaigns over the whole world.  We have 2 men buried in Manila, no doubt victims of the Bataandeath march and we have 4 men honored in France.  I am absolutely dedicated to finding at least 2 of the grave sites on this trip, if at all possible.

I want our group to find and then honor Staff Sgt. Ernest G. Snapp, buried at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer by bringing along some good ole Nicholas County dirt and scattering it on his grave.  We need to see and feel the connections that history tells us are still there; he died so that we may now have the opportunity to travel and freely visit these sites and memorials.

Luther L. Waugh never made it to shore on D-Day, June 6, 1944 but his name appears on the wall of the missing at Colleville-sur-mer and I want us to honor him and his family by finding it.  These men sacrificed so that we may now vote, live, work and play in freedom and so that Europe may be free of the terrible tyranny that gripped it over 60 years ago.

The other two men,  Capt. John W. Melbourne and PFC Frank W. Rigdon are buried at St. James Cemetery near Mont. St. Michel but I don’t know if I can convince our tour group to stop there.  Our schedule will be very busy so I don’t know if that can be accomplished.

For those of you who grew up in Nicholas County, these men could very well be a part of your family!  I always tease that Roger and I are the only ones around who aren’t related to everyone in the county.  Ask your grandparents, ask your aunts and uncles.  Are you related? Can we find out anything about these young men?  It’s a project that I want our group to explore and think about – compare what we see on tour with what these men may have seen or heard in their brief time on the battlefield. 

Let me know if you find out any family history that will tie us to these heroes.

I will put a list of all the WWII dead from the county in my “Lists” section.  Maybe you know someone one it?

I’ll leave you with a picture of Juno beach, Normandy, France where the Canadians came ashore on June 6, 1944, just a few miles away from where the Americans landed at Omaha beach.  Being there is a powerful, moving experience and I can’t wait for you all to walk that shoreline.

See you Monday, July 7th at the library for our first meeting!

 

UPDATED  07/13/08– I have discovered another Nicholas Co. soldier buried at Normandy!

Sgt. Edwin R. Saunders died July 30, 1944 and is buried at Colleville-sur-mer so we will be attending to 3 memorials while in France.  I am pleased to find this information in plenty of time to look for relatives and prepare for our journey. Let me know if you know this name as part of your family history.

See you July 23, 2008, 7:00 p.m. at the Library for our meeting!

KDR