Knee Deep Into History Battlefield Tours

10/19/2026

Valerie Young and I got an inside look at Nantillois' Salle de Fete, which was built in the mid 1920 from funds raised by veterans of the 315th Infantry Division, 79th Division.

When constructed, the Salle de Fete included a room (today's storage room) containing three showers, because very few of the houses had running water.

Today, it is showing signs of age, both internally and externally. It still hosts a few events a year, but it is nothing like it must have been in its heyday.

If anyone has any information regarding the funding, planning and construction of the Salle de Fete, please message me. We would like to learn more about its early history!

10/18/2026

10/18/2026

Franck Besch also took us on an inpromptu tour of key sites in the footsteps of Valerie's maternal grandfather, who was in the 315th Infantry Regiment. Merci beaucoup Franck!

10/18/2026

One great outcome of our meeting with locals in Prauthoy was having the opportunity to visit local historian/collector Franck Besch's "Le Petit Musee du Doughboy" in Marac, France. For anyone interested in the AEF training areas in and around Prauthoy and Langres, this is a great visit. Frank has a page: https://www.facebook.com/lepetitmuseedudoughboy.

10/13/2026

Six tours finished--22 days of touring not including travel and rest days. Now aboard the Eurostar heading back to Paris. Will meet Laurie for a vacation. This is the most aggressive fall schedule I have ever had!

10/09/2026

Lining up then and now photos is a great way to "see" WW1 France. Valerie Young and I were exploring Prauthoy and vicinity, one of the AEF training areas. We were helped by Prauthoy natives, Madam Anne-Marie Grepin and her husband, Frederic Fillaudeau. They ultimately introduced us to their neighbor, Mr. Humblot, who owned the YMCA baseball bat and lantern in the previous post.

It's amazing how curious the locals become when one or two people are walking down their streets trying to match up the then and now photos.

10/09/2026

I love this second career--including the ability to meet interesting people all over Europe and the U.S. who have pieces of the past. This YMCA baseball bat and Chicago-made lantern are owned by Mr. Jean-Marie Humblot, a native of Prauthoy, France.

I was exploring Prauthoy and vicinity, one of the AEF divisional training areas, with my client Valerie Young. While lining up then and now photos, a French woman came out and helped us. (See next post.) Then we met her husband, and also the neighbor, Jean-Marie-Humblot, who introduced us to yet another local historian. And now we know a bit more about the AEF in Prauthoy and vicinity.

10/04/2026

Flew a solo mission into Harry's New York Bar in Paris tonight for a French soixante-quinze (French 75). Missing my wing mates, Carl Priest and Andrew German, who I joined in 2024 after the reburial of Hamilton Coolidge, 94th Aero Squadron.

10/03/2026

Yesterday was another serendipitous moment on the Schardt Family Normandy Tour: We saw a roadsign outside of Picauville (in Normandy) stating Mur de Souvenir (Wall of Remembrance), so we decided to follow it. It led to the wall shown in these photos.

When we stopped Fabienne Hasley Flouriot, the daughter of the wall's creator, was in her garden and she was more than happy to tell us the story. Her father, Frenchman Lucien HASLEY, was just 10 years old in June 1944, when paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division showed up in Picauville. Lucien began to collect stories about them in 1964, and he built the Wall of Remembrance in 1982. It contains the names of 63 paratroopers, 2 C-47 pilots, 2 French civilians and 1 paratrooper medic. Before his death he continued to correspond with many of these men, and he even visited the United States. It was a wonderful story of one man's decision to build a memorial to honor the liberators!

But there's another point to be made here: Every now and then do the unexpected thing. Get off the schedule and explore something new. More often than not, you will be rewarded for doing that. This wall was not one of our scheduled stops, but we saw it and were intrigued. As a result, we got to hear a wonderful story and meet a wonderful French woman. What a day!