This Renanais finds the family of an American soldier, his mother’s first love

“He was my mother’s first love. She spoke to my father about it, to me too, about this Canadian soldier”. Paul Savary, from Saint-Renan (29), born a few years later, says that his mother, born Yvonne Daniel, in Lannion (22), lived during the war at 145 rue Jean-Jaurès in Brest, where his parents had settled their electricity company.

An identity disc as a souvenir

The family fled the fighting when the city was liberated in September 1944. It was in Gouesnou (29) that the meeting had to take place. They had plans. But this young soldier, having to follow his unit, the 8th Medical Battalion of the 8th Infantry Division, had the feeling that he would not survive the war. He left Yvonne one of his two dog tags, a “dog tag” (literally “dog tag”) in the jargon. One must follow the soldier to his grave, the other must be returned to his family. In fact, Edwin J. Glinski died in western Germany in February 1945. He is buried in the famous American cemetery of Henri-Chapelle, in Belgium.

I said to myself that she was of no use to me, that it was better to return her to her family. It’s not just a sheet metal plate, for loved ones…

“My mom died in 2015 and since then I have this plaque in a jewelry box,” continues Paul Savary. “Seeing her again this summer, I said to myself that she was of no use to me, that it was better to return her to her family. It’s not just a sheet metal plate, for relatives… It would be a fair return of things”. “We know that we can please someone,” adds his wife Catherine. “Perhaps this would be their only direct link with him”, ventures their son Yoann.

An address in New York State

The plate, in addition to the soldier’s name, bears numbers and letters, such as T42 43. “Probably for vaccination against tetanus.” A for blood group, C for Catholic”, explains Maxime Rivière, a young mobile gendarmerie non-commissioned officer from Quimper particularly passionate about this 8th infantry division, which actually passed through Gouesnou, in whose honor he had a stele implanted. in Utah Beach, Normandy, in 2021. Yoann Savary went to the commercial port of Brest, to the specialized store La Grande Évasion, which directed him to the Brest 44 association. There, Gildas Priol began the search and contacted Maxime Rivière, January 11, 2023.

Edwin J. Glinski, 25, was killed in Germany on February 23, the day his mother died in Buffalo

The identity plate mainly gives an address. “Mrs Glinski, 365 Walden Ave, Buffalo, NY”, New York State, border with Canada, American side of Niagara Falls. Because the Canadian soldier was, in fact, American, of Polish origin. Updated, the American Embassy in Paris launched an appeal on social networks in the United States. With the photo of the soldier that appeared in the Buffalo Evening News when the soldier died, article found by Gildas Priol. “Edwin J. Glinski, 25, was killed in Germany on February 23, the day his mother died in Buffalo,” the article said. Six brothers and four sisters survived him! The call was posted in shops.

A cousin’s son comes forward

And it paid off. At the end of January, Maxime Rivière was pleasantly surprised to see a message appear on the Facebook page he created in 2015, dedicated to the 8th Infantry Division. Of the son of a cousin of Edwin J. Glinski. “He says, moved, that his father is the only living being to have known him. That he himself, as a Marine, stopped off in Brest in 1988 and remembers having been very well received by the population”. He was far from imagining that an identity disc in the name of his father’s cousin was waiting there, a few kilometers away… The Savary family informed him of their wish to send the plate and photos of Yvonne, so that the package arrives around February 23rd. Anniversary date of Edwin’s death. And his mom.