Soldiers at Colleville-sur-Mer
Since the Institute's inception, the cornerstone project of the program is the soldier research project. Each team picks a soldier from as close to their hometown as possible who is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. The team will research the life of this soldier from birth to death and will present their findings to their peers in the program and provide a copy to the Cemetery for preservation in its archives.
The Institute teams have researched soldiers from all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam. Below is a small list of the most recently researched soldiers.
Soldiers Previously Researched
These are the soldiers researched by teams in the 3 most recent Institute classes: 2025, 2024, 2023. The full, internal archive since the inception of the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute includes over 200 soldiers.
| Soldier Name | State | Unit | Student |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFC Leslie M. Irvin | Illinois | 2nd Ranger Battalion | Bailee Easton |
| Pvt. Walter L. Boyer | Pennsylvania | 125th Calvary Reconnaissance Squadron | Bella Fauser |
| Cpl. William K. Brown | Virginia | 70th Tank Battalion | Thomas Halliday |
| 2nd Lt. Preston T. Niland | New York | 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division | Adrian Ishizaki |
| 2nd Lt. Marcel Dupont | New Hampshire | 386th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group | Andy Joubert |
| 1st Lt. Bryant L. Cramer | Georgia | 514th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group | Holly Kachmar |
| Sgt. Peter S. Mackiewicz | Wisconsin | 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne | Oksana Kleven |
| 1st Lt. Edmund H. Landgraf | Missouri | 485th Fighter Squadron, 370th Fighter Group | Carson Lee |
| PFC Harold E. Sellers | Arkansas | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne | Ava McCartney |
| PFC Lawrence T. Saldana` | Colorado | 315th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division | Sara Mputu |
| PFC Carl Spitzer | Kansas | 9th Infantry Division, 15th Engineer Combat Battalion | Benjamin Patterson |
| SSgt. Shelley D. Montgomery | Arizona | 701st Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, Heavy | Adan Ramos |
| Pvt. John S. Brannon Jr. | Massachusetts | 502nd Port Battalion | Orlando Sanchez |
| Pvt. Cecil E. Toler | Illinois | 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division | Abigail Soares |
| T5 Jack R. Brewer | Oklahoma | 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne | Josephine Toll |
| Pvt. Otis William Dill | Missouri | 149th Engineer Combat Battalion | Michael Wise |
| Cpt. Thomas A. Chastant | Louisiana | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division | Joshua Adams |
| PFC Raymond C. Dunn | Massachusetts | 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division | Chelian Subbiah |
| TSgt. James A. Knight | North Carolina | 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division | Eireann Marcus |
| Pvt. Lawrence P. Woodside | North Dakota | 17th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Division | MaKenna Vigness |
| Cpt. David L. Wilhite | Kentucky | 566th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, Heavy | McKayla Thomas |
| T5 William G. Weber | Wisconsin | 101st Signal Company, 101st Airborne Division | Kate Olson |
| SSgt. Harold J. Brogan | Oregon | 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division | Clementine Rust |
| Pvt. Joseph Preiser | New York | 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division | Isaac Lorin |
| Lt. Col. William E. Warfield | Maryland | 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division | Kyrill Foustoukos |
| TM2 Auvergne S. Breault | Michigan | U.S. Navy | Ian Smith |
| TSgt. Adolfo A. Lopez Jr. | Florida | 555th Bomber Squadron, 386th Bomber Group, Medium | Melissa Gonzalez |
| PFC Harry H. Burgess | New Mexico | 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division | Valentina Chavez |
| 2nd Lt. Joseph R. Fierro | New Jersey | 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division | Julia Sauers |
| Pvt. Edward J. Pillis | Connecticut | 507th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division | Finn Outwater |
| Pvt. Rochester Boyd | Florida | 6th Armored Division, 3398th Quartermaster Truck Company | Nicholas Bachfisher |
| SSgt. Maurice Williams | Virginia | 29th Infantry Division, 116th Infantry Regiment, A Company | Statler Brunsman |
| PFC Annis Irving Altman | Texas | 83rd Infantry Division, 331st Infantry Regiment | Adam Buchsbaum |
| T5 John C. Berlin | Louisiana | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division | Matthew Gorbaty Jr. |
| Sgt. Kenneth Gunning | Maryland | 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division | Victor Jacobsen |
| PFC Nicholas Francis Mydra | Minnesota | 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Infantry Division | Matthew Jegers |
| 2nd Lt. Edward B. Gunn | Mississippi | 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division | William Giles Jones |
| Cpl. Joseph N. Headd | New Jersey | 3912 Quartermaster Truck Company | Zara Lall |
| 2nd Lt. Wallace W. Mummey | Montana | 339th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, Heavy | Lindsey Leinwand |
| 1st Lt. Robert Foss Shipley | Missouri | 49th Troop Carrier Squadron, 313th Troop Carrier Group, 9th Air Force | Akhil Nadithe |
| PFC John Marion Love | South Carolina | 4th Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Regiment | Riley Price |
| PFC John R. Ruland | Colorado | 197th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion | Violet Pyles |
| 2nd Lt. Carleton E. Thompson | Michigan | 485th Fighter Squadron, 370th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force | Erika Rice |
| PFC Bryce Leaver Fountain | California | 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division | Alex Uhrlaub |