When Kevin Daniel, RDR, CRR, CBC, CCP, and his wife, Mary Daniel, RDR, CRR, CBC, CCP, went on a cruise along the Seine River in France, he didn’t expect to end up using his reporting skills. But when the tour company organized an evening with Andre Heinz, a member of the French Resistance during WWII, Daniel saw an opportunity.
“The trip started in Normandy, so the D-Day invasion was certainly on our minds,” said Daniel. “Having been previously involved with the Veterans History Project, it occurred to me that this might be an interesting opportunity to interview another veteran.”
Daniel received permission from both Heinz and the ship’s program director to record the hour-long speech, and he plans to transcribe it now that he has returned to the United States.
Heinz lived in Caen in Normandy and was in his twenties during WWII, joining the Resistance early on. His primary role was giving information to the Allies about German positions. During the D-Day invasion, when he was cut off from Resistance activities, he was part of the emergency team at the Red Cross hospital. He is a Chevalier, or knight, within the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France.
Since Heinz is not an American citizen, his transcript cannot be included with the Veterans History Project. Daniel, however, is looking into the appropriate places to submit the transcript when it is finished, including whether France has an archive similar to the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project.
