Fun Finds at Today's Archives

Our work area while perusing the regimental history of Bill's unit, the 16th Infantry.

Volunteers at Archives II set aside specific boxes through which Lauren could look for clues as to Bill's life in the Army. Certainly this saved a lot of time, not just the time it takes to find what boxes to look in, but time for the boxes to come back down.

And that saved time allowed us to focus on some fascinating gems in the boxes. Here are a few very interesting items we discovered.

General Eisenhower with Field Marshall John Gort (governor of Malta) and Air Marshal Arthur Tedder on Malta.

So, that's what Ike called his plane.

A map used by U.S. troops in Bill's regiment for their D-Day preparations.

Lauren's favorite artifact was a captured German map with American typing and writing. It outlined the German mortar positions and strong points overlooking Omaha Beach. I wish I had gotten the camera around in time.

In a regimental history of Bill's unit we came across evidence that both Eisenhower and Montgomery visited the division. It's a shame we couldn't find a picture of either event. Given enough time, I'm sure we could have done so.

We spent the morning looking at photographic records, the afternoon with text records. I really could have spent all morning poring through the photographs. After a while, I started learning the system by which they were organized. Most that we saw were taken by personnel in the Signal Corps, and it would seem as if one particular photographer stayed with the 3rd Battalion of Bill's regiment on June 6. Unfortunately, we never spotted Bill in any of the photos we saw. That's okay. I would've been at ease just looking through one photo after another of G.I.'s, young men who looked like normal fellas but part of something extraordinary.

The research experience as a little grueling. Grueling. Strange word to use when one is doing this in air conditioning and is given meal money. Still, though, it requires focus for a sustained stretch of time. The archives have very rigid rules about how one handles the documents: one person with one document from one folder from one box at a time. If one sends for a box and gets the wrong one, one might be waiting a while until staff can fix it (not our case today: two staff members were ridiculously quick getting back with some erroneous boxes). One can't eat or drink while working with the documents. One must go through security procedures that are very, very rigid. It's certainly not a relaxing atmosphere.

Comments

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 ...

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...

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