Susan Gallyon Dechant, president of the Northeast Washington Genealogical Society, does have a beautiful smile but she was not smiling when she gave a thoughtful presentation to her group on Wednesday, November 12.
Susan knew that her father, Charles Gallyon, had served in WWII in the Army's10th Mountain Division but not much more. Upon her brother's death, Susan inherited their father's trunk containing treasures. These included artifacts, photos, notebooks and some 400 letters he'd written to Susan's mother during his service years.
The 10th Mountain trained in the high mountains of Colorado for nearly two years before being sent to Italy in 1944. Their mission was to wipe the German presence from northern Italy. It was winter; the terrain mountainous...just what they'd trained for. And they succeeded. AND Susan's father lived to return home.
Susan tearfully recalled reading the letter dated May 1, 1945, telling his wife what he had been doing in the war ....... that very day Susan was being born in far away California.
In September, 2025, to mark the 80th anniversary of the 10th Mountain's success in Italy, Susan, her two sisters, and Lora Rose (another member of the NeWGS group whose father was also attached to the 10th Mountain) went on the anniversary tour. They tearfully walked the very places where their fathers walked. To their amazement, they were feted every day of the trip by the Italian people still in thankfulness for their liberation some 80 years previously.
Why share Susan's story? To remind you that every family has family stories! Every grandfather did something to be remembered for. And it's up to us, you and me, to ferret out those stories and tell them.
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