Inklings 2020

military obstacle course training. As I sat at my computer sifting through old documents, I felt the importance of my mission, and I was not about to stop. I located McClintock in a status report from February of 1945. I was in a collection of his company’s after-action reports dating back to D-Day inNormandy where I discovered he had moved his way through France, Belgium, and Germany from 1944 to ‘45. He helped build essential bridges and roads to transport the 7th Armored Division. “I found him!” I yelled as I sprung frommy desk. Unfortunately, my parents and my sister did not appear to care about some old soldier in France. Around me was only silence. I closed my computer and gave my eyes a rest. The next day, my family and I made our way to Omaha Beach. While my sister complained about not having any cell service, I stared out the window and looked at artillery craters. History was all around me in the quiet field and at the beach, misty with seaspray. We strolled around Deauville after dinner, and I wondered if maybe my great-great-uncle had eaten there or had slept in a nearby building. I felt connected to this place and its history. No one could rain on my parade. Connectivity Alyssa Coy