This is the continuation of the story of Lt. Col. Glen Roswell Weikert, who served in the U.S. Army during WWII. He was commander of the 794th Ordinance Company of the 94th Infantry Division in General George Patton’s 3rd Army.

We first learned about Col. Weikert in late 2019 when his grandnephew, Tim Yoder of Fountain Hills, made a presentation at the Community Center regarding Weikert’s service and his letters home to “Dear Dad and Mommy.”

That program presented by Yoder led to a whole new chapter of his uncle’s life, leading to a new family adventure thousands of miles away.

The Yoder family is long familiar in Fountain Hills. Tim’s dad, “Tim,” uncle Glen and his grandfather, Fred, were early contractors building some of the first homes in the community. Weikert was the brother of Fred’s wife, Dorothy.

Early in May 2020 Tim received an email message from France, written by Ben Rialland of La Havre. What Ben told Tim is the love story of Col. Weikert that no one in his American family had ever heard before.

Ben said he had long been searching for information about his mother’s father, his grandfather. He said his mother was born in June 1946 and is the daughter of Miss Blanche Guillou and Glen Roswell Weikert. Ben’s mother is in fact named “Glenny,” after her father.

Ben had found information about Tim’s presentation at the Community Center and reached out. Tim said after he received the message and was satisfied with the authenticity, he went to his dad and uncle Glen (a popular name within the family) to get their reaction.

“I guess we’re going to France,” Tim said his dad replied.

In fact, the older Tim and Glen did not make the trip, that was for Tim, which proved a monumental effort during the COVID pandemic.

Romance

Weikert arrived in Europe behind the troops that landed on D-Day in 1944. He landed at Utah Beach in Normandy and was initially based at Messac, Brittany. It was there he met a young woman, Blanche Guillou who was working with the U.S. Army as an interpreter. It was there they fell in love and for the next two years the couple kept in touch as Weikert moved with his unit. She would follow where she could, and he would find ways to visit also.

“Their letters during that time are passionate and show a lot of love,” Yoder said.

Weikert’s company took part in the Battle of the Bulge December ‘44 and January ‘45 and stayed with Patton as he raced to be first across the Rhine River in 1945. From there, the 94th Infantry went to Czechoslovakia when the fighting in Europe ended.

Roswell, the name he primarily used, and Blanche settled together for about a year, Glenny was born, and not long after the romance just ended.

Tim said they do not know what happened. Weikert returned to the U.S. late in 1946. He was decommissioned but returned to duty during the Korean War. He returned to Ohio and worked for International Harvester, where he had worked before the war. He died in his home state in 1968, and is buried in New Carlisle, Ohio.

Ben told Tim he hopes to visit his grandfather’s resting place at a time in the future.

Blanche eventually married a man who was a physician and had other children in France.

The visit

After several aborted attempts to fly to France over the past year Tim finally received word from Ben that France had opened for travel again. He arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris on Aug. 13.

Ben met him there and they headed toward Brittany, where Weikert had landed and he first met Blanche. They visited Normandy and Utah Beach.

“It was very strange,” Tim said. “I was the only American around.”

Tim introduced Ben and his young son to baseball, and they had an enjoyable family reunion. Tim had learned that Blanche, by now past her 100th birthday, would be able to visit with him. She arrived after a five-hour drive from Paris and talked for hours about Roswell and their time together.

Tim said her memory was remarkable and she seemed to enjoy the recollections.

It is situations like this that bring people together, families on two sides of the world who do not know they have a connection until, one day, a breakthrough occurs.

“I wanted to tell this, everybody has great stories,” Tim said. “There is so much joy in learning these stories.”

Soon after Tim returned home after his 10-day visit to France, he received a message from Ben with the news that his grandmother, Blanche, had passed away.