I am Michael Accordino. I landed on DDay, Omaha Beach 1st wave with the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion. Our objective blow the beach obstaclesfor the following waves. June of 2004 I returned to Normandy for the 60th Anniversary of DDay.
A relative or friend of Mrs. Marie LIPSTADT-PINHAS mailed the adress to Back to Normandy
So this mistery is solved
This story I received in the guestbook of this website
Fred,
I am Michael Accordino. I landed on DDay, Omaha Beach 1st wave with the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion. Our objective blow the beach obstaclesfor the following waves. June of 2004 I returned to Normandy for the 60th Anniversary of DDay. In the city of Ste Mere Eglise I met and had a pictur taken with a women, who I found a few weeks ago to be, Marie Pinhas. I tried unsuccesfully to find her address,on the internet and seeking help from an acquaintance in the Belgian Embassy. I would appreciate if you or someone reading this message can help me in this matter.
Thank you,
Michael
This story I published last year
This letter is probably the most emotional that we received. I publish it in extenso
Published in Daily Newspaper ‘La Libre Belgique’ from September 10th 1969
From Mrs. Marie LIPSTADT-PINHAS
“27th April 1945. The cannons thundered the whole night and it was early in the morning that American troops liberated our concentration camp near the village of Tuerckheim, in Bavaria. No outburst, surely, in enemy country, but for us, the final certitude to be free and alive. only fourteen years old and already for me to be aware of all the human cruelty – I should say inhuman cruelty, against us.
A little lost, naturally – what to do with this new freedom? – I walked in Tuerckheim, looking for somebody friendly, when a G.I., very tall, addressed sharply to me. I didn’t understand English, so I showed him my forearm on which very clearly he could see my tattooed registration number of concentration camp. Then, very simply, without comment, he took my hand and we went in a well stocked shop on the village place. Before a mirror, the G.I. gave me one dress after another, one too long, the other ugly. I was very moved of gratitude for this man, ready to continue to fight, because the war was not yet finished, and being concerned to decently dress a concentration girl with rags.
We took a dress, without paying, the shopkeeper looking us hostile, me finally decently dressed, and the soldier very self-satisfied apparently. With a strong voice he said “BYE-BYE”, let me, and disappeared in the distance.
I don’t more remember his face, but still today, I keep memory of this simple and human soldier who could give me back the appearance of a free girl. If he is still alive – and I hope it so much – I would like that he knows that I often think about him and it would be marvellous if he could recognise himself in this story.”
Mrs. Marie LIPSTADT-PINHAS – Brussels.
Liberated from concentration camp TURKHEIM (DACHAU) on 27th april 1945, by 7th US ARMY, 10th armored division
McCoy personnel, technology reunite WW II veteran, Holocaust survivor
http://www.mccoy.army.mil/vnewspaper/newspaper/realmccoy/06252010/reunion.htm
A World War II veteran whose unit helped liberate a concentration camp and helped one of the survivors obtain a new dress was reunited with her more than 65 years later via the Internet June 13 at Fort McCoy. The reunion was done over Skype at the Fort McCoy Welcome Center. Fort McCoy personnel agreed to serve as the go between and offer the use of suitable computer equipment.
PHOTO: Harry Hendersin, a World War II veteran, uses a Skype connection at Fort Mccoy to reconnect with a Holocaust survivor he hadn’t seen in more than 65 years. Contributed photo Harry Hendersin, a World War II veteran, uses a Skype connection at Fort McCoy to reconnect with a Holocaust survivor he hadn’t seen in more than 65 years. Contributed photo Harry Hendersin, 89, of Sparta was with the 506th, 101st Airborne Division in 1945, when unit members helped liberate the survivors at the Dachau, Germany concentration camp. Dachau is about a 20-minute train ride from Munich, Germany.
Hendersin and the woman, Marie Lipstadt-Pinhas, who was then a young girl of 14, and now is nearing 80, never saw each other again after their war encounter.
The memories came back to both during the reunion via Skype.
Through her daughter, who was present at the reunion, Lipstadt-Pinhas told Hendersin she “was very grateful he got me the dress at a German store because I was very badly dressed at that time,” she said. “I was dirty and ugly (after the time in the concentration camp.) I would like to thank you for the dress.”
The war was not over at that time, so Hendersin had to return to his unit and continue serving in the war, and he and Lipstadt-Pinhas had no contact since 1945.
Lipstadt-Pinhas often speaks to school students in Belgium about her experiences in the concentration camp and mentions Hendersin’s kindness. “Harry is well-known in Belgium,” her daughter said.
Lipstadt-Pinhas’ daughter said her mother never forgot Hendersin, and for many years, she attempted to find and thank him.
Hendersin’s granddaughter, Kim Meyer, said his unit fought in Bastogne, Luxembourg, which was a part of the Battle of the Bulge, and he also parachuted with the 101st into Normandy on D-Day.
Lt. Col. John Jacobi of the Fort McCoy U.S. Army Garrison said it was an emotional reunion between the two. The woman expressed great gratitude to Hendersin and to other Soldiers who helped liberate the camp.
It made the Soldiers present appreciate what their services can mean to other people in addition to the nation they serve, Jacobi said.
