The End (for now)

Before I launch into the story I thought it best to explain a bit about each person. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list.

Gerald - He was 18 years old on June 6, 1944 and was the soldier that shot Nick.

Jules Levavasseur  - He was 18 years old when Nick, badly wounded, & Gerald came to the farm.

Cecile Levavasseur - The sister in law of Jules who was not at the farm that night but knew the story.

Marie-Therese Levavasseur - The daughter of Jules.

Jocelyne - A Fresville local I found online that guided us.

Bobby - Jocelyne's neighbor. He is very active in the Normandy area and was a teenager during the invasion. He worked at the first temporary cemetery. Bobby was a friend of Jocelyne's grandfather.

Rene - Our Normandy guide. His father was a member of the French Resistance captured and survived Dachau. He lives in Caen.

Dutch Schultz - A fellow soldier (depicted in The Longest Day) that served with Nick & Gerald.

Ellen - The daughter of Nick's late widow, Melba.


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My immediate question was, how did they they get Nick to the farm? What happened as he died? Who was there? I wanted to know everything.

Before we left, I talked to Ellen. I asked her about Nick's burial flag & medals but she never answered. She did tell me she knew nothing of Nick except he and her mother were very much in love. I then shared with her some of Melba's letters.

Unfortunately, Facebook is not permitting me to share the (poor) quality videos but seeing where Nick died answered many of these questions.

On June 5, Rene picked us up from our hotel in Paris for the 3 hour car ride to Bayeux. Upon arriving in Bayeux we were taking the train to Carentan to meet Jocelyne. We were not sure what to expect and with only a bit of language barriers with locals, we bought our tickets. The ride was 2 stops, 30 mins total.

Immediately, we saw traffic was crazy. We drove to Sainte-Mere-Eglise to meet Cecile. She and an older gentleman met us. They live across the street from the historic church John Steel was stuck on. Jocelyne translated. Cecile pulled out the article on Jules that Jocelyne had written, we all laughed. Cecile had the version of events that Nick was 18 and shot by a German bullet. Indeed Marie-Therese had emailed me this version; however, by Jules' (and Gerald's) own account this wasn't the case. Nick was also 28 and not shot by German fire. Perhaps time or a game of telephone caused this miscommunication.

None the less Cecile pulled out a map and sheet to show us Nick's grave. She had been to visit him at the American Cemetery at least 4 times and had a rubbing of the grave. At the end of the visit we gave each other awkward air/cheek kisses and I presented her with a photo of Nick. She was very pleased to have it.

From there we snapped a few photos of the church as a procession marking a new historic marker instillation was leaving. It was wall to wall people. As we were early on time, we went near Utah Beach. We walked in the sand and collected shells. Then we went to meet Bobby.

On the way Jocelyne turned and said , " Do you think you will come back? ". At that moment I knew the answer was yes. She told me I'd love to look into all the local archives which might even have more about Nick. We stared at the country roads that she wound with ease - one lane roads with brutal blind spots.

Fresh off of leaving the church ceremony, we met Bobby at his home in Fresville.

Approximately 15 years ago he got a call about an American wandering around the area with a sketch  (that he had made) of a building he was trying to find. Bobby was called in to translate and learned this man was trying to locate a farm he had shot his friend Nicholas on in 1944. It was Gerald. They searched in vein for several days and Gerald left empty handed.

Several years later Gerald returned and the search resumed. As they were heading near a chateau (used as a medical rally point and the site of fierce fighting by a soldier named Turnbow) they came across an elderly man using clippers to trim the hedges. They pulled up and asked the man and said the story. He said nothing and kept cutting his hedges. Finally he said, I think I might know the place. " Can you ask the man that was there if there was a young man there that night and what did he ask him?". Confused Gerald answered yes there was a young man there and he asked him how old he was. He remembered the young man was 18 because they were the same age. With that the man identified himself - it was Jules Levavasseur.

Gerald then told him that when Dutch Schultz was dying he called Gerald and asked him to come see him - he had something important to tell him. According to Gerald they talked about Nick (or just Polachek as they called him). Nick, Gerald, and Dutch were all gambling together before they left for Normandy. Gerald still owed him money and insisted on paying him. Dutch refused and they agreed to send it to their company chaplan. Gerald left and realized he didn't know what it was Dutch wanted to see him about but when he walked back in, Dutch had died.

All three (Bobby, Jules, Gerald) later went to the farm.

Jocelyne bid us adieu at this point and we headed with Bobby to the farm.

Nick & Gerald landed approximately 20 ft behind the house in a hedgerow. One on each side. Nick was shot on his left side in the lower part of the stomach as he tried to pass the radio. Therefore, it's assumed he landed on the side of the headrow closest to the house. The Levavasseur's took him into the home and placed him on a mattress. Somehow, they were able to find a medic. He said if the bleeding was not internal Nick would be ok, one look at the wound and they knew he was doomed. Nick didn't survive for long and Gerald stayed with him as he died.

I wonder if Nick said anything - tell my family I love them? Take my tags home to my family? Did Gerald beg Nick's forgiveness?

The family wrapped Nick in their linens and with the help of Gerald buried him in the back garden. A plum tree stands there today. Rene told us that the Levavasseur family took a great risk at burying Nick. Luckily it was a private burial so it was not discovered but had it been discovered by the Germans, they could have paid a heavy price.

Gerald has not been returning calls or messages and Bobby feels he is busy trying to forget. I have strong feelings about this but will omit them for now.

As we were talking about coincidences - Nick's grave is C-28-28. Nick's grave location was randomly selected by ABMC. My grandfather is buried in section 23-23 of Calvary and was 5 years younger than Nick. The graves are each 5 apart. Coincidence? Not to mention my mother shares a birthday with Nick's wife and I share a birthday with Nick's father. Someone upstairs orchestrated all of this. How or why, I'm not sure but I know in my heart we will be back to France. My mom feels it in her heart too. Our main mission is accomplished but cementing Nick's legacy is my new focus.

As Bobby dropped us off at the train station he mentioned that he saw flowers at Nick's grave a few days ago. He believes a professor nearby had adopted his grave and would make inquiries for us.  We promised Jocelyne & Bobby we would all keep in touch. I hope to return to France and see them both. They kept saying don't thank us, this is a honor.

The next day started at 3am. We finally got to meet Uncle Nick at Normandy American Cemetery. I will make another entry but I placed my hand on his grave, fought back tears, and just kept thinking " I'm so sorry this happened to you - you should have come home - we all love you - we are so proud but so sorry this happened to you.". Mom later told me she kept saying the same thing too - she was so sorry it happened to him. I know without a shadow of a doubt my Grandma Marge & Grandpa Frank were there in spirit. They would be so proud, I can hear my Grandpa saying " Nick, meet my girls." with a big grin on his face.

I will try to double check this later for typos and such. My mac is running slow and freezing up - that includes my patience at this point!