D-Day Research an Emotional Journey-- Part 4

When Brunson and Holtgrieve arrived in Normandy, France, they walked on Omaha and Utah beaches and then went to the American Cemetery so that each student could visit the final resting spot of their soldier.  When it was Brunson's turn, she carefully washed Eugene Mlot's marker with a bucket of sand and water carried from Omaha Beach, stuck small American and French flags in the grass and left a letter to Mlot under a rose.

Then, she stood behind the grave and thought about the man who had never returned to Milwaukee and had not gotten to celebrate even his 21st birthday.  She paid the ultimate tribute to that veteran from so long ago.  She remembered him.

This is an excellent way to get today's youth to connect with history.

--GreGen

D-Day Research an Emotional Journey-- Part 3: Eugen Mlot's Dogtags

Julia Brunson used census records and documents from the Milwaukee Public Library and Milwaukee County Historical Society to put together his story.

Eugen Mlot worked as an electrician, shipping clerk and milliner before he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in April 1942.  Bruner did not know what a milliner was (neither did I) and had to look up the occupation, finding that Mlot made hats.

Brunson kept a journal, blogged and updated her teacher during this.

Her initial research led to several dead ends, but once she discovered that his unit was the 328th Bomb squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group, she found the name of the Victory Belle's pilot and then could track Mlot's missions.

In Washington, D,\.C., she found flight log books and handwritten maps of Victory Belle bombing missions.

Then, she hit the jackpot.  A researcher told Brunson she could see Mlot's dogtags, which had been taken to Berlin by the German troops, was found by American troops at the end of the war, and were stored in the National Archives.

--GreGen

D-Day Research an Emotional Journey-- Part 2: Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom Albert H. Small Student and Teacher Institute

That program Maggie Holtgrieve applied for was  the "Normandy"  Sacrifice for Freedom Albert H. Small  Student and Teacher Institute," which chooses 15 students across the country to research a military member who lost his life in the Allied invasion of France.

The program, sponsored by real estate developer and philanthropist Albert Small, paid for Julia Brunson and Maggie Holtgrieve to travel to Washington, D.C., for research at the National Archives and then to France to visit the cemetery and D-Day beaches.  Last summer the program was filmed by PBS.

Brunson started with a long list of Wisconsin names buried in France and was intrigued by Mlot's name.

She found out Eugen Mlot  was raised in Milwaukee's southside by a poor mother who emigrated from Poland.

--GreGen