There are many towns in the French province of Lorraine.\u00a0 One of those towns \u2013 about 40 miles SSE of Nancy \u2013 is called \u00c9pinal.<\/p>\n
During both World Wars, \u00c9pinal was occupied by Germany.\u00a0 In World War II it was liberated by forces of the US 7th Army on 23 September 1944.<\/p>\n
War has many costs; some of those costs are measured in terms of lives.\u00a0 Thus, not long after its liberation a wartime cemetery was established near \u00c9pinal.\u00a0 By the end of the war over 6,000 German dead were buried there \u2013 along with over 7,750 Americans.<\/p>\n
The cemetery remains today, as the \u00c9pinal American Cemetery and Memorial.\u00a0 It is the final resting place for 5,255 American war dead.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the cemetery began operations, the mayor of \u00c9pinal asked members of his town to \u201cadopt\u201d American graves in the cemetery as a way of thanking their liberators.\u00a0 Those adopting graves would tend them, and bring them flowers from time to time.<\/p>\n
That tradition has continued until the present, continuously.\u00a0 Sometimes the caretaker duty is performed by the same person for life.\u00a0 At least one local resident has been doing exactly that for one of the \u00c9pinal graves for 68 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n The practice is called parrainage<\/i> \u2013 literally, \u201csponsorship\u201d.\u00a0 Here, it refers to the adoption of a US grave for care.\u00a0 Those adopting a grave refer to themselves as \u201cgodfathers\u201d for that grave:\u00a0 les parraines.<\/i><\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n Most have never heard of les parraines d\u2019<\/i>\u00c9pinal<\/i>.\u00a0 And I probably would never have heard of them either.\u00a0 Except . . . .<\/p>\n I ran across a news article the other day.\u00a0 The headline caught my attention, and I read it.<\/p>\n It seems that one of the grave caretakers in \u00c9pinal\u00a0\u2013 M. Joel Houot \u2013 wanted to know more<\/a> about the individual buried in the grave for which he cared. \u00a0 He sought assistance.<\/p>\n Houot was able to determine that the soldier was from Wisconsin.\u00a0 So last fall, Houot found the e-mail address of a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin \u2013 Dr. Mary Louise Roberts \u2013 and e-mailed her<\/a>, requesting her assistance.<\/p>\n Call it fate, luck, or whatever\u00a0\u2013 the hand of God, if you like.\u00a0 But it turns out that Professor Roberts had written professionally about World War II, and teaches a popular undergraduate course on the subject.\u00a0 She was teaching her World War II course last fall.<\/p>\n Roberts thought helping M. Houot would make an excellent extra credit project for one of her students.\u00a0 So one day, she told the class about the request, and asked for a volunteer for an extra-credit project.<\/p>\n Forty-three hands went up. \u00a0The entire class<\/em> volunteered.<\/p>\n Roberts then corresponded with M. Houot.\u00a0 She asked for additional names of soldiers from Wisconsin who might be buried at \u00c9pinal.<\/p>\n Two weeks later, a list of 30 names of Wisconsin natives buried at \u00c9pinal arrived from the current director of parrainage <\/i>at \u00c9pinal, Mme. Jocelyne Papelard-Brescia.\u00a0 Roberts\u2019 students were able to find good information on 25 of the individuals.<\/p>\n The class\u2019 research was called, simply, The \u00c9pinal Project<\/span>.\u00a0 It is introduced here<\/a>; the full project may be viewed here<\/a>.\u00a0 It documents the class’ work; IMO, it\u2019s worth a look.<\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n In the great scheme of things, perhaps all of this is \u201csmall stuff\u201d.\u00a0 And yet . . . IMO it matters.<\/p>\n I think for most soldiers the greatest fear isn’t death or disability.\u00a0 Rather, that greatest fear is the fear of being abandoned\u00a0 – and forgotten – after they’re lost.\u00a0 Indeed, I believe that’s why the US military goes to such great lengths to account for each and every missing Soldier\/Sailor\/Airman\/Marine, to rescue those captured – and to recover each and every set of remains that can possibly be recovered, so that they can receive a proper burial.<\/p>\n Les parrianes d\u2019\u00c9pinal<\/i> prevented that fate for the US war dead buried at \u00c9pinal American Cemetery and Memorial.\u00a0 They made sure these US war dead were not abandoned, not forgotten.\u00a0 Dr. Roberts\u2019 and her class provided faces and history for some of those honored dead.\u00a0 They enhanced the legacy \u2013 the memory \u2013 of those fallen.<\/p>\n Each of those is a “good thing”, and is indeed worthwhile.<\/p>\n As a nation and a society, from a US perspective the French certainly have their faults.\u00a0 But regardless of their faults, the French do indeed have a sense of honor, and of gratitude.<\/p>\n If you doubt that, visit \u00c9pinal.<\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c0 chacun des parrianes d’\u00c9pinal – Merci, mes amis. Merci beaucoup.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"