One day in 2016, while shuffling through the contents of his grandfather’s attic in the foothills of France’s Vosges mountains, Florian Crouvezier discovered an unexpected treasure: a dented WWII aluminum canteen.
Florian’s grandfather, a railway worker, had found it in the late 70s along the tracks between the towns of Cornimont and Remiremont, but he knew nothing more about its history. The canteen’s only clues were several hand-engraved words and images, among which were the diagonal striped insignia of the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division, an Army serial number, and the name “Roy Gallagher.”
“With this initial information,” Florian said,* “I began researching on the net, telling myself that you can find everything there these days. Maybe even the descendants of this mysterious Roy Gallagher. I didn’t know then that I was embarking on a two year-long passion project.”
Florian first contacted the Epinal American Cemetery, where a guide named Anne Cascalès confirmed the insignia on the canteen was for the 3rd Infantry Division. She also put him in contact with Monty McDaniel, a U.S.-based enthusiast who could help Florian in his quest for answers.
After months spent following the false trails of other Roy Gallaghers, Florian finally found something promising on Find a Grave: a grave photo for a Roy Gallagher from New Philadelphia, Ohio, who had served in World War II, born May 30, 1922, and deceased September 24, 1988.
Florian continues, “From there, Monty managed to find an article in a local newspaper dated May 20, 1943, concerning the brothers Roy and Everett Gallagher. I then decided via Facebook to contact all the Gallaghers of New Philadelphia, but only two responded to me without conclusive results.”
With no further information about this Roy or possible relatives, Florian seemed to have hit a dead end. Undeterred, he contacted The Society of the 3rd Division, the US Memory Grand Est, and the “Rock of the Marne” association.
A member of this last group confirmed on their roster that Roy was in the 7th Infantry Regiment. He’d enlisted in October of 1942 and attended classes at Camp Barkeley in Texas, after which he joined the 3rd Infantry Division. His regiment went on to participate in the amphibious landing operations in Anzio and Provence. And in late 1944, at the cusp of the liberation of nearby Vagney, they crossed the Moselotte River along the Cornimont-Remiremont railway line at a place called “Nol-Zainvillers.” Florian believes this is where Roy lost the canteen, and where his grandfather found it in 1978, more than 30 years later.
In January 2018, Florian had a “eureka” moment—he looked up the Find a Grave member that posted the photo of Roy’s grave. Might he know more about the man buried there?
“It was Bud Winn,” Florian explained, “retired teacher, living in [New Philadelphia…], who without knowing me decided to help me search for Roy’s family. And it was he who found the missing piece of the puzzle, in the archives of the municipal library: the obituary of Roy Gallagher.”
The obituary included the names of Roy’s wife and children—the final clue Florian needed. He was able to contact Roy’s wife, Joan, who confirmed her husband was indeed a soldier in the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division during World War II.
After two years, the search had ended.
Roy didn’t live to see the return of his long-lost canteen. But Bud Winn was able to present it to Joan Gallagher, who accepted it on her husband’s behalf. It joined Joan’s other mementos of Roy’s service: a stack of letters they’d written to each other throughout the war, and a Purple Heart.
In his own letter to Joan, Florian assured her he’d never forget the soldiers who helped liberate the valley his grandparents called home during those war-torn years, and where he’d be raised decades later.
Joan passed away in 2020 and was laid to rest at Roy’s side. But not before she wrote back to Florian with a heartwarming photo of herself and Roy from the year they were married. Florian immediately hung it on his wall.
“I think I can say that at that moment, I was happy,” he said. “My research had paid off.”
Thank you, Florian, for your efforts to return this canteen and for sharing the journey! And thanks to Bud Winn for your willingness to help solve the puzzle. We’re so happy to see this story of lost things found and that Find a Grave could play a part in the reunion. We know so many in our wonderful community are doing the work that connects the dots in stories like this every day.
Though we lack Roy’s personal insights on his experiences during the war, his canteen engravings have their own tales to tell. Some have yet to be fully “decoded”—if you know more about them or their meanings, please let us know!
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS
(Florian’s notes are included in italics)
- “U.S. T.A.C.U. Co 1942” (brand and year of manufacture)
- “ROY GALLAGHER” (name of the soldier)
- OHIO (his state of residence)
- “35397437” (serial number: 3=drafted / 53=Ohio)
- “BETTY MORRISON” (was this his companion or a sort of army muse?)
- “1942/43/44” (had to engrave the years as they went along)
- HEART PIERCED BY AN ARROW with letters “L.G.” inscribed inside (initials of his fiancée or woman? G could be Gallagher?)
- SKULL AND CROSSBONES
- “LUCK” (Luck)
- UNIDENTIFIED ENGRAVING: A standing man from behind, legs apart, feet on two square bases, right hand in salute, left hand on hip. (Is it a kind of mascot? It could look like a frog too, mascot of this amphibious division?)
- THE GOLDEN GATE BY ’48: (the expression “The Golden Gate in ’48,” to which the person opposite would respond “The soup line (or bread line) in ’49.” Expressing sentiment about how long it would take for the war to end and what might happen to them afterward.
- L.C.I. No. 668 – France (landing at Cavalaire August 15, 1944)
- L.C.I. No. 45 – Italy (landing at Anzio January 22, 1944.)
(L.C.I. = the Landing Craft Infantry designated, during the second world war, the amphibious boats that landed a large number of soldiers on the beaches. The number designates the boat.)
- MOHAPOLO (or MOMAPOLO or MONAPOLO?) – Africa (no corresponding name found, has the name changed or is it a spelling error of a name he heard? Is this a port, a city, a boat? In Morocco or Tunisia? No idea.)
- INSIGNIA OF THE 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION “ROCK OF THE MARNE” (Division insignia)
(*Florian’s quotes have been roughly translated from the original French. Please forgive any errors!)
Fantastic research that went into the journey of this story. Love the notes! This is a wonderful, thanks for sharing!
Heart warming story. Also gave me goose bumps.
It must be known that the body falls and dies, but not the spirit, it continues very much alive. When the body is born, the spirit enters alive and when the body falls and dies, the spirit leaves alive, to another world. Journey of life, there is no point in anyone here despising those who have already gone, the narrative of this story is excellent, congratulations, we all have a story to tell.
Reading this made my eyes leak and my nose run. Every now and then, I get a message from someone telling me that my memorial of their relative has answered a long-held family question. It makes all this work seem worthwhile.
Love ❤️ this story! I was a navy nurse in Vietnam. Dirty job but somebody had to do it! I respect all who served,did their duty honorably and came home. Nobody talks about war, what happened or what they did. It’s just a place to do a job that
I had to do and now it’s over.
Thank you very much for sharing this. I admire your dedication.
It is people like you Marsha that I admire, your dedication being a Navy Nurse in Vietnam.
I had a similar experience last year. The son of my great grtandfather’s sister migrated to Canada and died in Matsqui, BC, but was not buried there. I contacted Find a Grave and someone there did just that for me. They found his grave in Moose Jaw, where he had lived and apparently been on the local council, two things I did not know.
Thank you SO much for doing this. Today is Memorial Day, and I don’t believe too many people out and about have ANY IDEA what that means, Us old(er) folks were taught about and lived (I was of the Vietnam era) through the “Big Wars”, but the younger folks out there today are mostly clueless. Which is a GOOD thing! But each year more and more of the folks who grew up with this stuff are fewer and fewer. And the “schools” we have now don’t even bother to educate those younger folks. So, I am very happy you stuck to it and delivered this to his family before they all passed on….
-Sam
Great story, great research!
True stories are much more heartwarming and entertaining than fiction. In my 25 years of genealogical research, it is the stories of the people and places that I research that gets me. This is a great example of searching and the drive to tell the story, wonderful!
I love reading these stories. My husband’s father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and lived through one of the bloodiest battles of WW II. When he returned home he was tragically killed in a farm accident when my husband was only 6 years old. He never got to know his father much at all. My husband had a rough life growing up. When he was 29, he met Our Lord and Savior and became a preacher. He went through a lot in his life of 80 years before joining his parents in Heaven. God bless them all who gave their lives for us!
Great story. So many stories like this have been lost forever with the passing of those involved from all sides of WWII.
This is such a heartwarming story. Thank you for sharing!
As I was reading, I was hoping for a great ending. Thank you for the time and effort that you did researching this. Great story.
I’ve always hoped that I’d find someone who could fill me in on my dad’s service during WWII. His records were destroyed in that fire that destroyed the records of so many WWII vets. All I know are some of the amusing stories he told, & that he served in North Africa & Italy as a combat medic, & he was wounded in 9/44.
In 1975 I was a rookie cop and we did our pursuit driving at Camp Barkley that is outside of Abilene,Texas. This story touched me, because over the years I met many veterans that had been trained at Camp Barkley and married Abilene Women. They returned after the war and lived in Abilene. Those young men were from every state in America. God Bless those wonderful soldiers.
Totally astonishing This is an adventure thank you you to the second greatest generation of the United States with the first one being the revolutionary war soldiers in the second being the World War II soldiers that be our freedom to thank you
Bought a house nd found full rafter FULL of CANTENES, SLEEPER BAGS AND SO MUCH MORE
Army Air Force if not mistaken ,,…but contacted Original family from the house and they didnt want nothing to do w/ any of it! I was disappointed….someone owns these items!! Also found WW2 newspapers and strange chemicals jammed in strange places!
Their perseverance paid off. Great results!
I cried when I read this thank you so much for the post.
There should be a website where people who find things pertaining to veterans can post information. Maybe there is. If anyone knows, please share it.
This is a wonderfully worded story! I love the historical research that these people took their time to investigate. My daddy was in World War II army fifth cavalry in Japan and the Philippines. I am enjoying making a scrapbook of the many photos he took while in the army and all of his papers.
Thank you for sharing stories like this.
Great story, but it took a bit to find his information on Finda A Grave because his first name is actually Leroy, not Roy. Would it be possible for someone to attach his obituary to his memorial on Find a Grave?
My Dad was a WWII veteran when I was 7 he had a book he showed me the atrocities as he and his fellow brothers helped to free Auswich my mother said to him are you sure she is old enough and my Dad said like this was yesterday. “I don’t want her to ever forget.” I never have He was always my hero. It is so wonderful to read this story. Thank you
Wonderful story! I would love to know what happened to Roy when he returned home from the war.
Wonderful story . As an amateur genealogist , I know how it feels to try and resolve a history mystery . Well done to all for persevering in finding Roy’s family . Quite a feat !
The 3rd took part in Operation Torch as part of the Western Task Force. The Western Task Force (aimed at Casablanca) was composed of American units, with Major General George S. Patton in command. This Western Task Force consisted of the U.S. 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions, and two battalions from the U.S. 2nd Armored Division, 35,000 troops in a convoy of over 100 ships. So the reference to a location in Africa may well be in Morocco. The fact that there is no record on the canteen to a landing vessel in Africa may indicate that his unit debarked in a port rather than assaulted a beach.