We went inside the small hall when has a large map of the war movements as well as printed information in English, German, Dutch, and French. While we were reading a group of school children and their chaperones came in and the US caretaker (I'm sure there's a better word for him), came out of his office and gave a five minute talk to them in French. As we were still there and he saw us reading the English wall, he asked where we were from and upon hearing I was an American he said, 'ah, a taxpayer, we have something for you' and brought out a color brochure about the American Monuments Commission.
He seemed like a very nice fellow, so I took the opportunity to ask if I could pick him brain about my great-uncles buried in American military cemeteries in Italy. He's a bit of a history buff and maybe the day was slow, so he invited us into his office and did some research. He was very helpful and informative and when I mentioned a certain unit in the military, he went to the file cabinet. As some members of the unit are buried there, he has had connections with members of the unit who have visited, and he mentioned that they have an 'alumni association' of former members and their families. He gave me two emails and suggested that I contact them for information about the one great-uncle (GU) who was in that group.
I sent off an email not expecting to hear much and was pleasantly surprised when I received a response two days later. The fellow mentioned that he did not know GU, but there was another former member who is heavily involved in the troop history and continued in the military for another 30 years so maybe he would have known him and here is his email, chop chop.
I sent another email out to 'the Colonel' and again set the expectations low, partially because emails change and people are busy, and partially because if someone was in this group in 1942ish, then someone must be at least 80 years old or so, and how many 80+ year olds are so connected to the internet and email? Apparently this one, big time.
The Colonel emailed me back within five hours with a lively and lovely response that he did, indeed, remember this GU and the accident when he died and he also had a photo of him in his military jumpsuit (he was a parachutist), and would I like a copy, and oh, he'll do some more research for me to see what else he can find as well as add me to the group's email list. Wow. Further, there were recommended books to read and a book about to be re-printed about the group's activities and if I want a copy he'll reserve one.
The Colonel and I went back and forth as he is a very quick emailer. He then informed me that a group does a march in that area to re-trace certain military routes and it goes past a memorial to GU's group. It's a combination of US military members who were involved, their families, and people who live in the area, so I can go if I want. It's four days of activities, so I'm just going over for Saturday, and the Colonel has suggested that I contact a certain Belgian fellow while there, that he would be interesting to meet. Even further, there is a different, but similar commemorative activity that takes place in Germany so he'll be sure to connect me to that one as it's in the summer and attended by other interesting people.
On the negative side, these activities in Belgium are actually this weekend. Also, it's this weekend which is Karneval in Germany. I'm not such a big Karneval fan, I never take off of work for it, but I do usually go out on the Saturday night and to the parades on Sunday, because I do enjoy when the Germans relax and have fun. So it puts me out of commission, really, for Saturday, but I'll still get to go to the children's parades on Sunday.
I am really looking forward to Saturday. Having done genealogy research now for over three years and to have just fallen into this is fantastic.
4 comments:
Congrats on the find! You'd be surprised how many 80+ year olds are avid internet users. My grandpa was until he died last year and a woman who worked with my great grandmother found my genealogy blog this fall and has been reading both my blogs since!
christina: I hear what you're saying. I wish I knew more 80+ year old internet users. The Colonel is the first one that I've met.
What a great thing to find. My family doesn't have an interesting history like yours does.
J: Everyone's family has an interesting history, just some are buried deeper and harder to find than others. ;-)
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