Memorial Day, 2017

The officer you see pictured below is 1st Lt. Edmund Duckworth. He is one of thousands we honor on Memorial Day.

Allow me to tell you a little about him.

First Lt. Duckworth was serving as Executive Officer for E Company, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division when he was killed, June 6, 1944 on Omaha Beach. He was survived by a wife, Audrey (Travers) Duckworth, and a son, Patrick, who was born in November 1944. Known as Bill and Duck to his comrades, 1st Lt. Duckworth was a veteran leader, earning the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Clusters.

First Lt. Duckworth was a native of Lancaster County.

What I know of him I know mostly as the result of the hard work done by a student at my school. A junior at my school applied to the Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom Albert H. Small Student & Teacher Institute. She was one of fifteen students selected from across the nation. Those fifteen students are studying the life of a soldier or sailor who is buried in the American cemetery in Normandy. Later this month, the students will offer eulogies by their graves. The eulogies are built upon extensive research of the soldier or sailor they chose to study.

And I'm one of the fifteen teachers who get to accompany them in France. The bigger honor, though, has been the chance to guide the student in researching our soldier's life and record. It's been a fascinating journey.

I ship out for Washington on June 17. Between now and then I'll have more of a chance to tell you about our research and our soldier. On June 22 we fly to France, where I'm excited to have the chance to tour sites I might never again get to see. I invite you to follow this blog where you can learn more about 1st Lt. Duckworth and the places where he and thousands of other servicemen and women fought for us more than seventy years ago.

Comments

Some Thoughts on Liberation

One of the markers placed by the French and Belgian governments to mark the path of the liberators. My greatest takeaway from this most recent trip involves some refined feelings about liberation. I'm writing this post in a time of high cynicism. And the were matters of which one could be cynical back in 1944, the year in which Charlie fought and died. This trip, however, left me with renewed appreciation for what our country did back in that war, helping me refocus on what I've had the chance to see and do the past few years. Christopher is the military historian who accompanied us on this voyage. In one of our webinars this spring, he made an offhand reference to a piece of scholarship about the Holocaust he said was worth reading. It's entitled Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. It's heavy. I can't say I read every chapter. But I read most of it on our bus rides this summer. And I'm glad I did. My unassigned reading. Saying that Bloo...

About that observant fella . . .

Alan and I atop a Sherman. I often compliment my daughter on being observant (and she is!). In some ways, I'm trying to call her attention to something I wish I were better at. That is, being observant. Alan has the gift Caroline does. Two interesting examples of it. While trying to find dinner one night in Paris, Alan caught a sign written in French that said something-something about the times of Christ. Turns out, it was a pathway to an ancient Roman arena where gladiator matches might have once taken place. I know. It looks like a park or courtyard. It really is a relic of the Roman era, though, right in a neighborhood in Paris. On our final night of the trip came another moment. Alan came across a pair of stumbling stones, which we weren't aware existed in Belgium. Stumbling stones are a form of remembrance for victims of the Holocaust. They are placed in locations where individuals have memory of those victims last being seen. These were relatively ...

Eulogizing Charlie

By Charlie's graveside in Luxembourg. You may find the eulogy I wrote for Charlie interesting. I have it copied here. The marker by which we stand today identifies Staff Sergeant Charles F. Simcox, Jr., as a hero who gave his life in service to our nation. Before entering the service, his family knew him as Charlie. To this day they keep the memory of Charlie, or Uncle Charlie, alive. Many of the members of this closely-knit group still live near West Chester, Pennsylvania, where Simcox grew up. They have not grown apart in the decades of peace and prosperity that Simcox’s service and sacrifice made possible. Something that I wanted to convey, but that seemed very difficult to convey, was the joyous and warm sense of his family. When I reached out to them this winter, they were more than happy to meet with me. I felt like something of a guest of honor. And so many of them came out to meet me that I lost track of who was who. A warmly receptive fami...

Mr. Johnson in Normandy

Search This Blog