They Gave Their Lives to Fight Tyranny, and Now Their Stories Will Be Told
Since the Institute's inception, the cornerstone project of the program is the Colleville-sur-Mer research project. Each team picks a soldier from as close to their hometown as possible who is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. The team will research the life of this soldier from birth to death, utilizing a number of resources in order to find out who this soldier was. The student and teacher will then present their findings to not only their peers, but also the Cemetery itself. While in Normandy, each team will visit their soldier's grave and deliver the eulogy that they have been owed since their death serving their country.
Soldiers Teams Have Research and Eulogized
These are the soldiers researched by teams in the 3 most recent Institute classes: 2023, 2022, 2021. The full archive since the inception of the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute includes over 180 soldiers.
Soldier Name |
State |
Unit |
Student |
Pvt. Rochester Boyd |
Florida |
6th Armored Division, 3398th Quartermaster Truck Company |
Nicholas Bachfisher |
SSgt. Maurice Williams |
Virginia |
29th Infantry Division, 116th Infantry Regiment, A Company |
Statler Brunsman |
PFC Annis Irving Altman |
Texas |
83rd Infantry Division, 331st Infantry Regiment |
Adam Buchsbaum |
T5 John C. Berlin |
Louisiana |
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Infantry Regiment |
Matthew Gorbaty, Jr. |
Sgt. Kenneth Gunning |
Maryland |
507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division |
Victor Jacobsen |
PFC Nicholas Francis Mydra |
Minnesota |
4th Medical Battalion, 4th Infantry Division |
Matthew Jegers |
2nd Lt. Edward B. Gunn |
Mississippi |
26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division |
Giles Jones |
Cpl. Joseph N. Headd |
New Jersey |
3912 Quartermaster Truck Co. |
Zara Lall |
2nd Lt. Wallace W. Mummey |
Montana |
339th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, Heavy |
Lindsey Leinwand |
1st Lt. Robert Foss Shipley |
Missouri |
49th Troop Carrier Squadron, 313th Troop Carrier Group, 9th Air Force |
Akhil Nadithe |
PFC John Marion Love |
South Carolina |
4th Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Regiment |
Riley Price |
PFC John R. Ruland |
Colorado |
197th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion |
Violet Pyles |
2nd Lt. Carleton E. Thompson |
Michigan |
485th Fighter Squadron, 370th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force |
Erika Rice |
PFC Bryce Leaver Fountain |
California |
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Alex Uhrlaub |
Capt. Ralph B. Hartgraves |
Texas |
329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division |
Jackson Capra |
Petty Officer Wilbert E. Henke |
Minnesota |
United States Naval Reserve, Motor Machinist's Mate Second Class |
Heidi Danielson |
Sgt. John P. Ray |
Louisiana |
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division |
Ian Doody |
Pvt. Hugo P. Bibry |
Texas |
502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Gerardo Elizondo |
1st Sgt. James O'Neal |
Tennessee |
117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division |
Jessie Henderson |
1st Lt. John Joseph Henderson |
Pennsylvania |
12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division |
Xander Hill |
SSgt. Homer L. Anderson |
Texas |
146th Engineer Combat Battalion, Comapny B |
Chloee Hoover |
Sgt. Thomas Eugene Bratten |
Kentucky |
116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division |
Evelyn Johnson |
PFC John D. Halls |
Colorado |
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Natalie Lopez-Ramirez |
PFC Harry M. Thoraldson |
Pennsylvania |
2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division |
Audrey McCollum |
Sgt. Roger Lewis Eppley |
Pennsylvania |
16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division |
Joseph Messina |
Capt. Jefferson D. Dickson |
Michigan |
Headquarters, 4th Bomb Wing |
Geethika Polepalli |
1st Lt. Homer C. Biggs |
Colorado |
323rd Bomb Squardon, 91st Bomb Group Heavy |
Tahlia Trevino |
T5 Luther Lloyd Waugh |
Kentucky |
29th Field Artillery, 4th Infantry Division |
Shelby Adams |
PFC Raymond Travanico |
Arizona |
2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division |
Zia Rice Bensch |
Pvt. Earle F. Williams Jr. |
California |
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Cooper Esquibel |
Pvt. Dale Atwood |
Minnesota |
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Sarah Gama |
PFC Martin B. Murphy |
Kentucky |
325th Gilder Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division |
Justin Hallman |
T5 Theodore Dobosz |
New Hampshire |
106th Calvary Reconnaissance Squadron |
Lillian Huffman |
PFC John Vincent Carr |
Pennsylvania |
23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division |
Thomas Kondrich |
PFC Benjamin R. Firestone |
Pennsylvania |
12th Engineer Combat Battalion, 8th Infantry Division |
Nicholas Krause |
1st Lt. Robert Frederick Coffey |
Pennsylvania |
115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division |
Jack Larkin |
SSgt. Alfred McCunniff |
Colorado |
357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division |
Caitlin Ogoe |
Pvt. James Whinnie Bowie |
Colorado |
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Abby Reedy |
PFC Samuel J. Neighbors |
Kansas |
116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, C Company, 1st Battalion |
Garrett Sandall |
PFC William E. Phelps |
Alaska |
66th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Division |
Miriam Scott |
Pvt. Chester Leroy Beisser |
Ohio |
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, 2nd Battalion |
Xander Sims |
Corp. John R. Hale |
Washington |
506th Parahute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
Ethan Thorley |
