APPLETON (WLUK) — An area museum is making certain the last word sacrifice made by two brothers from Appleton will not be forgotten.
The Historical past Museum on the Fortress held a ceremony Friday to pay tribute to Invoice and Dick Offenstein, who died in World Conflict II, and their surviving brother, Joe, who carried on their reminiscence at dwelling.
The Offensteins have been raised in Atwood, Illinois, however their household later moved to Appleton.
Invoice was the eldest of the trio. He served as a technical sergeant within the 112th Infantry Regiment, twenty eighth Infantry Division, and was killed simply days after marching triumphantly down the Champs-Élysées in Paris in 1944.
Dick, the youngest brother, served with the famed twenty sixth Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, generally known as the “Massive Purple One.” He additionally died in 1944 throughout brutal combating within the Hürtgen Forest.
As for center brother Joe, a childhood harm sidelined him from army service, so he stayed dwelling to help their household.
Friday’s occasion was designed to not solely honor the brothers’ service and sacrifice, but in addition to shine a light-weight on the numerous households whose wartime braveness and resiliency formed American historical past.
The ceremony featured readings from “Brothers in Arms: Remembering Brothers Buried Aspect by Aspect in American World Conflict II Cemeteries” — a e-book authored by historian Kevin M. Callahan that chronicles the Offensteins and lots of of different American siblings who served collectively.
“We’re right here to inform the tales of those brothers in battle, but in addition acknowledge individuals like Joe, who have been these siblings left behind and who stay with that loss for his or her total lives,” Callahan mentioned.
Callahan is touring the nation to go to the hometowns of the troopers he wrote about. Appleton marked his twenty fifth cease.
“When you might have a narrative like this from Appleton, Wisconsin, and other people from the city can join and perceive these are households and brothers who got here from this group. I simply suppose individuals get — as unhappy and tragic as among the tales are — additionally they get impressed by it, and that is why it is necessary to do that. It is to recollect and honor them and be impressed by the sacrifice that they made.”
Commemorative medals have been additionally offered to surviving Offenstein members of the family.
It goes together with a particular exhibit of over 700 wartime images, letters and artifacts that deliver the Offenstein brothers’ story, and that of American households, to life.
The ceremony was offered in partnership with the American Battle Monuments Fee.
