Day 6: Washington, D.C. National Archives

My apologies for the delay.  Yesterday, Isaac and I, along with the other Normandy student-teacher teams went to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland to do more research on our silent hero and his military division.  We found several great primary source records, including the 90th Divisions after-incident reports from each day, some general photos of the 90th Texas Oklahoma "Tough-Ombres" Division's training, and maps of the Normandy Campaign.  I've included several of these below.  All of these documents are courtesy of the National Archives.  

I should take this opportunity to explain more about the program Isaac and I are doing.  The Normandy Sacrifice for Freedom: Albert H. Small Student & Teacher Institute is in its 6th Year as part of National History Day.  It takes 15 student/teacher teams from around the country to Washington, D.C. and Normandy in order to educate the younger generation about the meaning of sacrifice through the example of those American GIs who fought and died in Normandy France on and after D-Day.  Each team selects an individual buried at Normandy American Cemetery to research and ultimately tell their story through a website.  This program is experiential learning at its best and has really affected Isaac and myself.  On the last day, Isaac and the other 14 students will give a eulogy to each silent hero at his grave, and I doubt there will be many dry eyes.

Our silent hero is named Private First Class Ernest A. Tanksley of the U.S. Army.  He was born in Georgia in 1920 but moved to Central Texas as a young boy after his father died.  He had three brothers and a sister, and they moved in with Ernest's mother Ora's parents on Waco-Moody Road (aka Spring Valley) in the late 1920s.  Ernest married a young girl from Waco named Birdie Mae Allen in 1942 and they had a daughter named Mary Jane a year later.  He joined the army in 1942 and was shipped to England in 1944.  He landed on Utah Beach on June 8, 1944.  During the subsequent invasion of Northern France, he fought bravely against the Germans.  On July 5, 1944 he was shot in the chest and killed outside a small French village called Beau Coudray.  His family decided to leave his body in France, and he is buried with honor in the Normandy American Cemetery to this day.  His daughter is living in Oregon with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and the Tanksley family still have many descendants in the Waco area.  We are humbled to be able to tell Ernest's story to others and to honor his sacrifice.  I'm sure this will all hit home especially hard when we arrive in France.