Visit of historians from Fort Worth, Texas

Added: 2010-07-12

On June 10th, the Memorial of Coudehard - Montormel hosted two American historians: Tyler Alberts and Trace Chinworth. Living in Texas, both are members of the OTME (Organization for Texas Military Education).

Tyler is the executive director : he is responsible for the direction of the organization which includes running the Military Museum of Fort Worth (a recently opened museum dedicated to American military history of the twentieth century), and overseeing the many other projects that the organization undertakes. On his side, Trace, as member of the Board of Directors for the OTME, is the Chairman for the Educational Outreach Committee. He is in charge of organizing opportunities to talk to groups of veterans, school children, and citizen groups. Trace holds seminars at various locations throughout North Texas and organizes trips for school classes to come and tour the museum. He also taught several classes for their XXth Century Military History Course that was held at the museum.

Tyler (left) and Trace (right). Tyler and Trace came to the Memorial of Montormel as part of their trip to France: "Our trip was designed to come to Normandy and celebrate the anniversaries, but really for me to introduce Trace to the many contacts that I have made over the years", says Tyler. They began by visiting the battlefields of the 79th and 90th Infantry Divisions in the area of Mont Castres / La Haye du Puits. They also drove to the D-Day landing beaches, stopping at various monuments and cemeteries.

To understand more closely the purpose of their visit, one must know that Tyler has been the official historian of the association of the 90th Infantry Division for 6 years. This division captured Bourg St Leonard with heavy losses, then fought its way to Chambois. The grandfather of Tyler fought in the ranks of the 90th Division during the war : he was a S/Sgt in the 343rd Field Artillery Bn. "I assist veterans and family members in their request for information about the division with the assistance of Norm Richards (another historian of the association), by providing copies of the original reports and photographs to people who request them", says Tyler.

Tyler's passion for history encompasses his own work: he is the founder and director of Combat Reels, a company that produces DVDs displaying archival footage shot during the war, division by division. Two series have already been produced (one on the Normandy campaign, the other on the later stages of the war in France) and a third one, dedicated to the Battle of the Bulge, will soon emerge. The war path of more than 30 American divisions is now honored by Tyler and his team.

A sample of the exhibition at OTME. The main interest of Combat Reels DVDs is that they provide the raw archive image: where the overwhelming majority of documentaries show only short seconds of the archival movie, Combat Reels DVDs propose them in full length, without editing. Hence, his visit at the Memorial of Montormel has been an opportunity for Tyler to propose to the museum some selling copies of two DVDs: those dedicated to the 80th and 90th Infantry Divisions in Normandy, the two ones that fought in the Argentan – Chambois aera.

The second visitor, Trace, is now retired from working in various positions in the theatrical industry. Trace is also a veteran of the Vietnam War : he fought with the 25th Infantry Division in 1966 and 1967, receiving a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts.

"During our stay in Normandy, I also wanted Trace to understand what it meant to be able to walk the battlefields and gain prospective of what happened so many years ago", says Tyler. "With him being a veteran of the Vietnam war I was not trying for him to understand what the combat was like because he has a better idea of what combat is really like more than anyone of us who study battles later on, but I thought he would enjoy seeing how we use the photos and information to be able to understand how things probably happened in a battle that occurred over 65 years ago”.

After spending a whole day in the Falaise Gap, visiting the towns of Le Bourg St. Leonard, Silly en Gouffern, Sainte-Eugénie and Chambois in the footsteps of the 90th Division, our two friends left in direction of the east : they will spend several days in the area of Thionville, working on the battles fought on the Moselle and helping in the organization of the ceremonies to come, including Fort Koenigsmacker. They will also visit Bastogne.

When asked about the reason of their efforts to preserve the history of those dark days, Tyler answered : "We both do this as a service to our community and to make sure that people do not forget what it takes to preserve freedom, by honoring the so many men that gave their lives for all of the world to be free from oppression".

Both are delighted with the voyage, the good times on the roads of France, and the warm welcome they receive from the French. They are also satisfied with the contact established with the Memorial of Montormel, and the future partnership it can trigger.


Tristan Rondeau

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