Sister Mary Ann Mishurda OSF
On Memorial Day, we Sisters at The Waters (WPA) remembered those who gave their lives in service to our country during the World Wars. Memorial Day is particularly poignant for S. Yvonne Dursh and me. Yvonne’s father, Alphonse Thomas Dursh, was killed and buried at Anzio Beachhead, Italy, on February 18, 1944. My father, John Mishurda, was in a follow-up campaign to the Normandy Invasion and was killed on August 11, 1944. He is buried in the nearby Brittany American Cemetery in St. James, France. Both Yvonne and I lost our fathers when we were just toddlers.
In the summer of 1996, S. Mary Ann Reis and I won a community drawing to make a pilgrimage to Assisi. Mid-July, the pilgrimage was over and since I was in Europe, I wanted to find my father’s grave. S. Mary Ann was happy to accompany me on the flight from Rome to Paris and then travel by train southward to the cemetery.
The French were so grateful for American help fighting off the Germans that they have split the cost of land, memorials, and upkeep of the several American cemeteries with the U.S. government. (Between WWI and WWII, there are 14 American cemeteries in Europe). We arrived at the cemetery and were led among the rows of 4,410 white marble crosses and Stars of David for those of Jewish faith. The markers were impeccably clean; they looked like they were erected the day before, not 50 years ago! Military records were perfect, and the guide knew exactly where to lead us. I found my father’s grave and knelt there a long while in prayer.
I’m looking forward to meeting my Daddy in heaven!
