TOLEDO, Ohio — On June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, 73,000 of them American. In total, the landings claimed the lives of over 4,400 troops.
And on Thursday, 80 years after the Allies invaded Nazi-controlled western France, letters written by local elementary students were placed on the grave markers of each of 26 Toledoans buried in Normandy.
In a Facebook post shared by Toledo Public Schools, Robyn Hage, a Toledo Public Schools music teacher and historian, detailed her trip to Normandy.
Hage visited the Normandy American Cemetery, which sits on a cliff above Omaha Beach. She said staff were able to help her locate the grave markers of 26 Toledoans who died during the Normandy landings and its subsequent operations.
Hage wrote in the post she was able to visit all 26 markers, where she left behind letters written by second grade students at Beverly School, an elementary in the Toledo Public Schools district. Hage also left a history book, "Toledo's War," penned by the late Joseph Boyle, at the grave of Sergeant Richard A. Gallagher.
Gallagher served in the 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division and died on July 6, 1944, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Boyle, who passed away in November 2023, was a TPS educator and local historian. According to his obituary, he began Toledo Public Schools' "Fallen Heroes" project following a research trip to France. His career in history was dedicated to the Second World War, and culminated in "Toledo's War," his five-volume history of Toledo and World War II.
Hage took pictures of 22 of the 26 Toledo burial markers in the cemetery, which each include the letters written to the troops. You can see the full post below:
"#TPS proud", wrote the official Toledo Public Schools account when sharing the post.
You can read more about the Normandy landings and D-Day here.
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