MPS student, teacher selected to participate in WWII remembrance in France

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Ronald Reagan IB High School junior Julia Brunson and U.S. History instructor Margaret Holtgreive have been selected to represent Wisconsin in the National History Day organization’s 5th annual Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom Albert Small Student and Teacher Institute.

"There is such a profound difference between reading about D-Day in a textbook and tracing someone's life from somewhere you live, like Milwaukee, all the way to Europe," Brunson said.

Brunson, with the guidance of Ms. Holtgreive, will research a Milwaukee County Air Force Sergeant from Milwaukee who lost his life during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944).

Her work will involve research at local and national archives, readings, video interviews and online discussions with other students chosen to participate in this program.

"You get such an extreme sense of history when you follow in someone else's footsteps," Brunson said.

Brunson and Holtgreive will travel to Washington, D.C. and the Normandy region of France this summer to walk in the footsteps of the fallen.

All of Brunson's hard work will culminate in Normandy where she will present a eulogy to read at the fallen soldier's grave site.

National History Day is a non-profit educational organization that was established in 1974 to offer academic programs to middle and high school students through original research work on various historical topics of interest.

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