Back to Indy: Reminders of Alsace and Darker Times

Living in a hotel in downtown Indianapolis for 7 weeks was strange experience. It is a much different city when you live downtown than it is when you commute from 15 miles away. Downtown is clean and friendly and safe at all hours of the night. And one of the pleasant surprises was walking along the canal whenever the mood to walk occurred.

One day when the sun was out I took a walk along the canal past the Indiana History Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum and the IMAX theatre. You can walk all the way to the Indianapolis Zoo and NCAA Headquarters and beyond to the White River.

Along the canal is the Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial. This is a simple little memorial made of steel and glass panels. The glass panels are etched with a record of each of the 3000+ who have received the Medal. The simplicity is what hypnotizes. Each etching bears simply a name and a place. That's all.

I figured that about 5 minutes was all that my interest would be held. This was history - people and places far away in another time. But as I walked from the Civil War section into that for the Second World War, it got to be a little more intriguing. Every 5th or 6th etching bore the name of a city, town, or village that is located in Alsace or the Vosges. Over the past few months I've become used to seeing these names on roadsigns.

The winter of 1944 - 45 must have been a difficult one in Alsace.

Kaysersberg is a beautiful little village nestled in vineyards that is a 45 minute drive from our apartment. We went there for the Christmas markets. Charles P. Murphy was there in 1945, the memorial told me. I know how cold it was in 2005 and shudder to think how cold it was in Kaysersberg back then.

Saint Hippolyte is a pretty little village where we stop to buy wine on the way to the Castle at Haute Konigsberg. Today it's like a corner of Disneyworld. Ellis Weicht was there in December, 1944. The asterisk beside his name on the memorial tells me that he probably never got a chance send pictures of Saint Hippolyte to family at home.

The intro picture shows the engraving for Audie Murphy who was, of course, the most famous person to have received a Medal of Honor in Alsace. He received his near Holtzwihr, which is now pretty much a suburb of Colmar. I have to confess that I stole the intro picture from this website because I didn't have a camera with me on the day I took my walk. Visit the link to learn more about Audie Murphy and the Indianapolis memorial.

Here are some of the others whose time in Alsace (or Vosges) was not as touristic as our stay. Bless them all.

ADAMS, LUCIAN Near St. Die, France, 28 October 1944
BELL, BERNARD P. Mittelwihr, France, 18 December 1944.
BERTOLDO, VITO R. Hatten, France, 9-10 January 1945
*CAREY, CHARLES F., JR. Rimling, France, 8-9 January 1945.
COOLIDGE, CHARLES H. East of Belmont sur Buttant, France, 2427 October 1944
*CRAIN, MORRIS E. Haguenau, France, 13 March 1945
DAHLGREN, EDWARD C. Oberhoffen, France, 11 February 1945
*DELEAU, EMILE, JR. Oberhoffen, France, 12 February 1945.
DUNHAM, RUSSELL E. Near Kayserberg, France, 8 January 1945
HAJIRO, BARNEY F. 19, 22, and 29 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, eastern France
HERRERA, SILVESTRE S. Near Mertzwiller, France, 15 March 1945.
*KANDLE, VICTOR L Near La Forge, France, 9 October 1944.
*KEFURT, GUS Near Bennwihr, France, 2324 December 1944
*KURODA, ROBERT T. 20 October 1944, near Bruyeres, France
MURPHY, AUDIE L. Near Holtzwihr France, 26 January 1945
MURRAY, CHARLES P., JR. Near Kaysersberg, France, 16 December 1944
*NISHIMOTO, JOE M. 7 November 1944, near La Houssiere, France
*PEDEN, FORREST E. Near Biesheim, France, 3 February 1945
SAKATO, GEORGE T. 29 October 1944, on hill 617 in the vicinity of Biffontaine, France
*THOMAS, CHARLES L. 14 December 1944, near Climbach, France
TURNER, GEORGE B. Philippsbourg, France, 3 January 1945.
*VALDEZ, JOSE F. Near Rosenkrantz, France, 25 January 1945
WARE, KEITH L. Near Sigolsheim, France, 26 December 1944
*WEICHT, ELLIS R. St. Hippolyte, France, 3 December 1944.
WHITELEY, ELI Sigolsheim, France, 27 December 1944

You can look up more on each, if you wish, at this site.