NORMANDY CHAPTER

5

information I have regarding their confirmed movements and locations was from some brief military records, some narratives of soldiers in the 1st Platoon, and basic historical data I found on the internet. Regardless I was shooting in the dark, but took the chance and messaged Paulette.

Within literally a minute after messaging Paulette that I was doing research on her dad’s and my grandfather’s unit, she responded with “Interesting. What was your grandfather’s name? My dad hosted an Army reunion in Minnesota one summer.” I told her his name was Paul Guiton and that he was with Detachment A. I was floored with her response. She responded, “I remember Paul! His wife was Ginny, correct?” I couldn’t believe it! MIND BLOWN! She not only knew my grandfather, but she knew my grandmother as well! It turns out, her dad was in the same Platoon (Detachment A) as my grandfather! Both of my grandparents attended that Army reunion in Minnesota that was at her house! So that is where fate started to unveil its tricky self yet once again. Before I knew it, I started picking her brain left and right for any information she had regarding my grandfather and her father.

This is where it gets really INSANE! She stated that her parents visited my grandparents in Florida a few times before that reunion. Now when I was a kid, I lived almost every summer in Florida with my grandparents. All of a sudden, I started having flashbacks of an older couple that would often visit at both of our houses in Florida and in Pennsylvania. The only thing I could remember was my grandparents always saying that, “Al and Ann were coming to visit.” So obviously, I had to ask Paulette, “What was your mom and dad’s names?”. She responded, “Albert and Ann Seidlik.” I couldn’t believe it! I actually knew her mom and dad! I have spent summers with them as a kid! Paulette started sending me photos of her dad and my grandfather together at the military reunions they had since the war. It turns out that most of them made a promise to each other to continue to meet throughout their lives. This was unreal!

I immediately messaged my mom to report the latest news and as fate were to have it again, she knew Paulette and her daughter and even visited them in Minnesota as well! My mom met a few of my grandfather’s war buddies but couldn’t remember their names (and this is where the Platoon photo provided by Larry comes into play). The irony I swear! I immediately sent the Platoon photo that Larry provided me of his father’s Platoon to my mom and she sent me back a list of all the guys she remembers meeting. Can you guess who was on that list?

My mom met Coy Shirley, Paul Kubis, Nelson Stephens, and Stu Ebels. To make this even more crazy, it turns