Les Parraines d’Épinal

There are many towns in the French province of Lorraine.  One of those towns – about 40 miles SSE of Nancy – is called Épinal.

During both World Wars, Épinal was occupied by Germany.  In World War II it was liberated by forces of the US 7th Army on 23 September 1944.

War has many costs; some of those costs are measured in terms of lives.  Thus, not long after its liberation a wartime cemetery was established near Épinal.  By the end of the war over 6,000 German dead were buried there – along with over 7,750 Americans.

The cemetery remains today, as the Épinal American Cemetery and Memorial.  It is the final resting place for 5,255 American war dead.

Shortly after the cemetery began operations, the mayor of Épinal asked members of his town to “adopt” American graves in the cemetery as a way of thanking their liberators.  Those adopting graves would tend them, and bring them flowers from time to time.

That tradition has continued until the present, continuously.  Sometimes the caretaker duty is performed by the same person for life.  At least one local resident has been doing exactly that for one of the Épinal graves for 68 years.

The practice is called parrainage – literally, “sponsorship”.  Here, it refers to the adoption of a US grave for care.  Those adopting a grave refer to themselves as “godfathers” for that grave:  les parraines.

. . .

Most have never heard of les parraines d’Épinal.  And I probably would never have heard of them either.  Except . . . .

I ran across a news article the other day.  The headline caught my attention, and I read it.

It seems that one of the grave caretakers in Épinal – M. Joel Houot – wanted to know more about the individual buried in the grave for which he cared.   He sought assistance.

Houot was able to determine that the soldier was from Wisconsin.  So last fall, Houot found the e-mail address of a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin – Dr. Mary Louise Roberts – and e-mailed her, requesting her assistance.

Call it fate, luck, or whatever – the hand of God, if you like.  But it turns out that Professor Roberts had written professionally about World War II, and teaches a popular undergraduate course on the subject.  She was teaching her World War II course last fall.

Roberts thought helping M. Houot would make an excellent extra credit project for one of her students.  So one day, she told the class about the request, and asked for a volunteer for an extra-credit project.

Forty-three hands went up.  The entire class volunteered.

Roberts then corresponded with M. Houot.  She asked for additional names of soldiers from Wisconsin who might be buried at Épinal.

Two weeks later, a list of 30 names of Wisconsin natives buried at Épinal arrived from the current director of parrainage at Épinal, Mme. Jocelyne Papelard-Brescia.  Roberts’ students were able to find good information on 25 of the individuals.

The class’ research was called, simply, The Épinal Project.  It is introduced here; the full project may be viewed here.  It documents the class’ work; IMO, it’s worth a look.

. . .

In the great scheme of things, perhaps all of this is “small stuff”.  And yet . . . IMO it matters.

I think for most soldiers the greatest fear isn’t death or disability.  Rather, that greatest fear is the fear of being abandoned  – and forgotten – after they’re lost.  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.

Les parrianes d’Épinal prevented that fate for the US war dead buried at Épinal American Cemetery and Memorial.  They made sure these US war dead were not abandoned, not forgotten.  Dr. Roberts’ and her class provided faces and history for some of those honored dead.  They enhanced the legacy – the memory – of those fallen.

Each of those is a “good thing”, and is indeed worthwhile.

As a nation and a society, from a US perspective the French certainly have their faults.  But regardless of their faults, the French do indeed have a sense of honor, and of gratitude.

If you doubt that, visit Épinal.

. . .

À chacun des parrianes d’Épinal – Merci, mes amis. Merci beaucoup.

Category: Blue Skies, Historical, Military issues, We Remember