How A High Schooler Helped Reunite Twins 74 Years After Their World War II Deaths
canada goose outlet uk Sometimes a high school history project ends up making history. That’s canada goose what happened when a 16 year old Nebraska student decided to participate in the National History Day project in 2015. canada goose outlet uk
Partly due to her research, the canada goose uk shop bodies of two American twin brothers, separated at death during World War II, were canada goose outlet finally reunited.
On June 19, 2018 74 years to the day after they canadian goose jacket were killed off the coast of Normandy, France Ludwig Julius Wilhelm “Louie” Pieper and Julius Heinrich Otto “Henry” Pieper were laid to rest side by side in the Normandy American Cemetery, high on a bluff overlooking Omaha Canada Goose Online Beach.
canada canada goose factory sale goose outlet parka The twins were born in Esmond, South Dakota, and grew up in Creston, Neb. They enlisted in the Navy together and took part in the 1944 D Day Normandy invasion as radiomen 2nd class https://www.canadagoose-jackets-online.com on the same canada goose uk black friday landing ship. canada goose outlet parka
Rescuers found Louie’s body after the explosion. But Henry’s wasn’t immediately found and identified. He became canada goose clearance one of World War II’s tens of thousands of missing in action. His name was inscribed on the canada goose store Walls of the Missing at the American military cemetery in Normandy, where Louie was buried.
canada goose outlet toronto factory Henry’s remains were eventually discovered, but remained unidentified. For decades, the body was labeled “Unknown X 9352” and was buried at another military cemetery in Belgium until now. canada goose outlet toronto factory
Tim Nosal, who heads external affairs at the American Battle Monuments Commission in Virginia, says they are always looking for America’s missing soldiers, but this time there was an incredible coincidence that helped them find one.
canada goose outlet canada “We were looking at all the information we uk canada goose outlet have on the unknowns in our cemeteries when, at the same time, a high school student in Nebraska was doing research,” says Nosal. Intervention canada goose outlet canada
canada goose outlet store uk It was 2015, and Vanessa Taylor was a student canada goose coats on sale at Ainsworth High School in Ainsworth, Neb., and was looking for buy canada goose jacket cheap a topic for a class project. canada goose outlet store uk
canada goose factory outlet “We were supposed to select a silent hero from our state,” says Taylor, now a student at the University of Nebraska. canada goose factory outlet
canada goose outlet black friday She began her research by looking at websites listing soldiers killed from her state. canada goose outlet black friday
official canada goose outlet “I just happened to notice there were two people killed who had the same exact last name,” she says. “So I thought it was kind of interesting and wondered if there was a connection or if it was just cheap canada goose uk a coincidence.” official canada goose outlet
canada goose outlet nyc Taylor says she found out they were twin brothers who served in the same branch of the military. “And they were on the same ship when they died,” she adds. government for personnel files on the sailors caught the attention of officials at the Defense POW MIA Accounting Agency, which tracks soldiers who have been prisoners of war or missing in action. They drew a possible link uk canada goose between the missing twin and the remains of six unidentified sailors found by French divers who were dismantling a sunken American ship off Omaha Beach in 1961. Those unidentified remains were buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. canada goose outlet nyc
canada goose outlet in usa “It was fresh [information] to them and it helped them put the pieces together to identify a sailor that was missing from this particular vessel,” says Nosal. canada goose outlet Canada Goose online in canada goose uk outlet usa
The remains were positively identified as Henry’s in November 2017, using DNA and dental records.
The twins cheap Canada Goose had four canada goose black friday sale other siblings. Their last living sister, MaryAnn Pieper Lawrence,.
canada goose outlet sale At the June ceremony in Normandy, her daughter Susan Lawrence said her mother got the news of the positive identification last Thanksgiving. canada goose outlet sale
canada goose black friday sale “For her, it was like the biggest burden lifted off her shoulders. She was just carrying it all this time,” says Lawrence. “What happened to the brother and to have him identified and know he was found, it was the biggest blessing for Thanksgiving we could have possibly had.” canada goose black friday sale
canada goose outlet The family asked the monuments commission if they could bury the twins side by side in the verdant, pine tree lined cemetery above Omaha Beach. canada goose outlet
Louie’s body was moved to a space where it could be reburied next to Henry.
canada goose outlet reviews “The American Battle Monuments Commission went out of its way to make it happen,” says Lawrence. canada goose outlet reviews
canada goose outlet new york city At the end of World War II, about 79,000 Americans were unaccounted for, according Canada Goose Coats On Sale to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Today, the agency’s website says, more than 72,000 remain unaccounted for from the war. canada goose outlet new york city
canada goose outlet online Many bodies have been identified, says Nosal. But once they are, their families usually repatriate them to the United States. canada goose outlet online
goose outlet canada He says this is the first missing soldier to be identified and buried in this Normandy cemetery of more than 9,300 graves. goose outlet canada
“People will be talking about the Pieper twins and visiting their graves for as canada goose coats long as this cemetery exists,” he says. “Five million visitors come through this cemetery each year. If you were to rebury your loved one in a private cemetery back home, he would never receive so many visitors. There’s a strong message here for the world, Canada Goose Jackets of what these men sacrificed their lives for.”.
