Michigan Navy seaman killed during D-Day invasion to be honored
(CBS DETROIT) - A U.S. Navy seaman who was killed 80 years ago will be honored thanks to a Rochester teacher and his former student.
Middle school social studies teacher Matt Cottone and Ian Smith, who is now a junior at Adams High School, were able to identify Seaman Auvergne Breault of Escanaba, Michigan, through the Albert H. Normandy Institute fellowship, according to the Michigan Education Association.
Cottone and Smith were selected to participate in the fellowship to help identify a Michigan soldier who died on D-Day and is buried in Normandy.
Breault was 20 years old when he died during the invasion in Normandy France, known as D-Day. According to the American Battle Monuments Commission, he was ranked as Torpedoman's Mat Second Class at the time of his death.
Records show Breault was on the USS Corry on June 6, 1944, when it was hit and sunk on Utah Beach in Normandy.
"This was a unique opportunity to truly take education outside the classroom to the very beaches of Normandy where so many brave Americans sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we and our allied partners enjoy every day," said Cottone, who is an MEA member. "Ian was the perfect partner, and we got to work right away."
The duo was the only Michigan team to participate in the program that was operated by George Washington University.
MEA officials say the team found 10 people with the Breault last name on Facebook, narrowing it down to three people who said Auvergne looked like a relative. They were referred to the Delta County Historical Society and a library, where they were able to identify him
Two women who were identified as Breault's nieces provided Cottone and Smith with his birth certificate, military registration, family photos and news clippings, according to a news release.
"I consider this adventure the latest in my continued efforts to help my students understand the world is a much bigger place than just Rochester schools," Cottone said. "It's been a long and winding road, but one that has provided a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience for both me and Ian, and I can't wait to share this experience with my students."
MEA says Cottone and the student will write and recite a eulogy in Normandy, where it will be enshrined in the Normandy American Cemetery archives. A copy of the eulogy will also be sent to Breault's niece in Escanaba.
