YORK COUNTY — Seniors at Summit Christian Academy recently returned from a trip to Europe, where they had an opportunity to follow in the World War II footsteps of two York County brothers.
Pvt. Clyde Fox and Pvt. 1st Class Earl Fox were from the Hornsbyville section of Yorktown. Clyde’s unit was fighting South of the Cerisy forest when he died in July of 1944, while Earl died in the sinking of the SS Leopoldville, a troopship, on Christmas Eve, 1944.
Both are buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which sits on the banks of Omaha Beach, the site of a fierce and bloody battle during the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944.
Ahead of the trip, members of the senior class were taught about the Fox brothers, according to Lindsey Ralls, Upper School Principal at SCA.
“The idea of the trip is that it’s culminating the 14 years that our students are here. In second grade, they learn about Ancient Rome, and then they build on that. Specifically for their senior year, they go through a book called “How Should We Then Live,” that talks about the rise and decline of Western culture, and that is the book that all of our seniors have gone through for the last 20 years. That book really prepares them for all of the places they will be visiting on the trip,” Ralls explained.
Members of the senior trip began their trek through Europe in Italy, before visiting France and ending their trip in Germany.
While at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, select seniors visited both Clyde’s and Earl’s gravesites, where they performed a short ceremony and laid flowers. Students also wrote letters and cards to the brothers, which are now housed in a file at the cemetery where they will be preserved forever.
“Before we brought these cards and notes, the brother’s files were empty. To know that our students contributed to help open those files and fill them was incredibly humbling,” Ralls said.
Ralls shared that during the farewell dinner on the trip, many students said their favorite part was visiting the Fox graves at Normandy.
“The kids really recognized that they can have a part in history. They understood that history is so much bigger than just what we tend to think about when we live our day-to-day lives. It was very eye-opening for them to realize that history is so much bigger than just themselves,” Ralls said.
To learn more about the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, visit abmc.gov.