Introduction To Tracks Across Europe

This is a story about a hero, a manuscript, and a trip across Europe 70 years in the making. It’s a look at the men who landed D-Day and made their way battling through Europe from the eyes of one soldier and one man, Sgt. Dal Estes.  Following a manuscript he wrote upon his return to the US, his stories and his footsteps, I’ll visit those towns and cities to connect the past to the present – not just to find similarities or differences, but to visit the places that helped shape the man that fate ultimately determined, would be my Dad.

His US Army unit, the 467^th AAA AW BN, was a motorized battalion full of tanks, halftracks, and jeeps. He and his “brothers” landed on the bloody beach at Omaha and fought another 29 days during the battle of Normandy.  Although not technically considered infantry, they performed infantry duties all through the war - moving on from there and marching through France and Europe, fighting through a brutal winter during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944 in Bastogne, Belgium. He was injured there, received a Purple Heart, and returned to fighting after only two days.  He was commissioned as an officer in March of 1945 and truly became an infantryman when he joined the 80^th Division as a lieutenant in the mine platoon.  The 80^th Division continued fighting, with Dad at the helm, all the way through to VE Day.  Sadly, he lost men right up until those last months of the war.  In the late summer of 1945, he was made commander of a displaced persons camp at Pilsen in what was then Czechoslovakia, and in late 1945, he returned home to middle America.

He came back from the war to be a husband, father, and eventually a grandfather, roles he fulfilled with passion and heart. I was blessed and lucky to be his kid.  Our Dad wasn’t shy about his war-time experiences.  He spoke about them, about the men he fought with, and about the towns and cities they came upon.  I grew up hearing these stories, most of them multiple times. Which every now and again, became eye roll moments for my siblings and me. (Not again???!?)  Those youthful feelings evolved over the years, and even if we couldn’t articulate it then, I knew and certainly know now – that these men, these towns and these experiences were defining moments in his life. 

 Although I have no regrets about our relationship, I have one personal regret – that I wasn’t able to return to Normandy with him for previous anniversaries in 1994, 1999 and 2004. Life got in the way then- and I’m remorseful I didn’t experience his history through him, where it took place.   He passed away on Christmas Eve, 2005 – and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him, or wish I could hear those stories one more time.

June 6th, 2014 marks the 70^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The celebrations in Normandy will be robust and despite their limitations of age, many soldiers WILL return.  However, I realized if I didn’t attend  this year, the chance of meeting an actual soldier who landed would soon become impossible, as the number of living D-Day veterans decreases by the day.  Although no other man could possibly replace my Dad, seeing one of his contemporaries standing on that bluff looking over the beach, will stir up emotions whose power I both welcome and dread.  It will also be a proud moment, knowing that my Dad’s part in history helped shape a future of which I and many others have been the beneficiaries.

I’m traveling to Europe at the end of May with two of my siblings and my brother-in-law, and their presence will make this trip better on many levels.  First, they are well traveled in France and know many people from their previous trips for D-Day anniversaries.  Second, they are fluent in French – my brother having taught the language for 30 years and my sister majoring in it in college.  Most importantly they, and our other three siblings,  share the unique vantage point of being the children of Dal Estes – a historian, a frequent speaker and a proud veteran of WWII.  We had ring-side seats for his lectures, his writings and the living history he embodied.  Our shared experiences then, and on this trip, will be a great part of the journey.

After the celebrations at Normandy, my siblings will head back to the US.  I will be on my own in France and Belgium to explore the towns and cities my Dad described, to meet the people that he loved, and to experience his journey in my own way.  Unlike him, I won’t be walking it with backpacks and combat boots, hoping no sniper is in the vicinity.  I’ll be driving it in the little manual transmission rental car, hoping instead that I can safely navigate the French, Belgian and German countryside despite a limited knowledge of the languages.   Although it won’t be the same, I’m excited to follow his “Tracks Across Europe”.  I hope you’ll join me for the ride.