美国国家公共电台 NPR Mysterious Suitcase Helps Connecticut Man Discover His Grandfather's WWII Service

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And now we have a story about a young African-American boy who grew up with two mysteries. One was his grandmother's old suitcase. It was full of stuff she shared with no one. The other mystery was about the boy's grandfather, who died before he was born. The boy grew into a man, and the suitcase became his after his grandmother died. When he opened it, his journey of discovery took off. Connecticut Public Radio's David DesRoches picks up the story here.

DAVID DESROCHES, BYLINE¹: Effie Payne was the only person who knew what was inside that suitcase. Not even her three children had a clue. But one day, her grandson, David McGhee, about 9 at the time, got a glimpse.

DAVID MCGHEE: She was actually going in for something else. But I saw that picture. And I asked, what was it? And it was her mother and her father. And it just disappeared.

DESROCHES: She zipped up the suitcase, wouldn't say anything else about it. She died about 20 years ago, and David got that suitcase. But it sat in his basement, gathering² dust for years.

MCGHEE: I had to be emotionally ready to open this up. And so at some point years later, I opened it up.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUITCASE UNZIPPING)

DESROCHES: When he opens the blue, faded leather and denim³ suitcase, it hits you.

MCGHEE: It has that musty smell to it.

DESROCHES: Inside is treasure - not gold and silver but something else, something priceless.

MCGHEE: Here is something that came from President Truman at the time in regards to his service.

DESROCHES: The suitcase is full of information about David's grandfather, Sergeant⁴ Willie F. Williams. He'd served in Europe during World War II, died in Germany years before David was born. And nobody ever talked about him, including David's grandmother.

MCGHEE: This suitcase was started with documents that were sent to her from the military. And it continued to grow until the date of her death.

DESROCHES: There are photos, commendations and medals, Western Union telegrams. His grandfather had penmanship that bordered on artistry. He drew cross sections of German bombs and meticulous⁵ trekking⁶ maps.

MCGHEE: Here's that map tracing his route from Belgium into Germany.

DESROCHES: He folds up the map, then pulls out a handwritten letter. Sergeant Williams wrote it to his wife from somewhere in Germany.

MCGHEE: (Reading) Darling wife, while thinking of you today, I thought I'd write...

DESROCHES: David learned that his grandfather served in an African-American unit managing ammunition⁷ and explosives. David also learned that he died in an explosion. But one thing he didn't learn - where his grandfather was buried. So he turned to more modern research tools - the Internet. It wasn't long before he and his wife were on a plane flying nearly 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean on Memorial Day.

On this warm, fall day in the Netherlands, historian Mieke Kierkels walks through the American Military Cemetary in Margraten. It's a city a few miles west of Germany. Large oak trees flank the path as she winds through a sea of crosses and Stars of David. An American flag waves in the distance.

MIEKE KIERKELS: There are leaves on the grass. And that's all in between 8,301 marble gravestones.

DESROCHES: Among the dead are 172 African-American soldiers killed during World War II. Americans helped liberate⁸ the Netherlands from the Nazis⁹ in 1945. Mieke's looking for one specific grave.

KIERKELS: Here is the number of the plot. Yes, this is the right one.

DESROCHES: She continues walking between the headstones. Minutes later, she finds the one she's looking for.

KIERKELS: We are standing¹⁰ in front of the gravestone of Willie F. Williams, David McGhee's grandfather.

DESROCHES: Sergeant Williams was killed in June of 1945 and buried here in Margraten, a little-known piece of history that David discovered when he turned on his computer and typed in his grandfather's name. He found a website called Black Liberators of the Netherlands. It was Mieke Kierkels' project. She started the site to learn about the black soldiers buried there.

Military records have a code to indicate the soldiers' race. But beyond that, there's not much else Mieke knows about them. It's hard to get more information because a lot of records were kept by veterans' organizations, and most didn't allow black members in those days.

KIERKELS: People should know that history keeps out things that are not fitting in at the time the history is written.

DESROCHES: Her website includes the soldiers' names and where they're from, but Meike wants their stories. She's only been able to get information on a handful of them. David's suitcase, though, offers a window to one soldier's story, so at least his service won't be lost to history.

MCGHEE: You have to really understand the African-American experience to know that part of the history is missing. And that's why this project is so important to me, because it's now being told.

DESROCHES: In the Netherlands, these stories are also being kept alive. David's grandfather's grave has a caretaker, a local couple, Jan and Jos Smeets. They never met Sergeant Williams. But they visit the site on special occasions and lay flowers. And when they die, their daughter will take over. All 8,301 American graves in Margraten are adopted by Dutch families. It's something David never expected.

MCGHEE: To know that, you know, Jan and Jos Smeets have been tending to his grave and knowing that others are being tended to the same way is - it's hard to put into words.

DESROCHES: When David visited the Smeets' home, he found a framed photo of his grandfather, Sergeant Willie Williams, on display next to the Smeets' own children as if he were family. For NPR News, I'm David DesRoches in Hartford.

(SOUNDBITE OF TAPE'S "A SPIRE")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

6 trekking   

v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的现在分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• She can't come pony trekking after all because she's in a delicate condition. 她结果还是不能坐小马车旅行，因为她已怀孕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We spent the summer trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas. 我们整个夏天都在喜马拉雅山的山麓艰难跋涉。 来自互联网

7 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

8 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

9 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。