Eddie was awarded the Purple Heart, and was buried under a simple wooden
cross in a temporary US Military Cemetery in St. James at 4 PM 11 August
1944 (Plot C, Row 4, Grave 89). His father and mother were notified of
his death on 30 August 1944. A year later, they received items found on
Eddie, including his identification bracelet, a billfold and soldiers pay
book, and religious material.
In July 1947, his family received a letter concerning "the disinterment and final burial of the heroic dead of World War II". Eddie’s father, Rocco, replied with a very simply hand written note:
Eddie was disinterred on 12 May 1948, and "his remains
were permanently interred, side by side with comrades who also gave their
lives for their country". Customary military funeral services were
conducted over the grave at the time of burial. The casket flag was
sent to Rocco on December 20th 1948. Eddie now rests in
the Brittany American Cemetery in St. James, France, under a white stone
cross (Plot L, Row 6, Grave 12).
By the end of the war, the 90th Division had suffered 21,371 killed, wounded or missing in action.
Of the 405,399 Americans that lost their lives during World War II, the next of kin of 93,242 elected to have their loved ones buried in American cemeteries overseas.
The World War II Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial lies one
and a half miles southeast of the village of St. James (Marche), France,
twelve miles south of Avranches and fourteen miles north of Fougeres.
At this cemetery, covering twenty-eight acres of rolling farm country near
the eastern edge of Brittany, rest 4,410 American Dead, most of whom
gave their lives in the Normandy and Brittany campaigns in 1944. Along
the retaining wall of the memorial terrace are inscribed the names of 498
American who gave their lives in the service of their country but rest in
unknown graves. Brittany American Cemetery is located on the site of
the temporary American St. James Cemetery, established on August 4, 1944
by the U.S. Third Army. It marks the point where the American forces
made their famous breakthrough from the hedgerow country of Normandy into
the plains of Brittany during their offensive around Avranches.
The gray granite memorial contains the chapel as well
as two large operations maps and flags of our military services and overlooks
the burial area. Interesting stained glass and sculpture aid in embellishing
the structure. The lookout platform of the chapel tower, reached by
98 steps, affords a view of the stately pattern of the headstones as well
as the peaceful surrounding countryside stretching northward to the sea
and Mont Saint Michel (below).
