My grandfather never talked about the war.
He was a Private First Class in the U.S. Army — Company A, 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. They called it the Century Division. He fought across France and into Germany during some of the most brutal months of the entire Western Front campaign. He came home with a Bronze Star. And then, like so many men of that generation, he put it away and didn’t say much about it.
Last summer, my dad, my sister, my stepmom, and my brother-in-law went to find him there.
Why They Went
It wasn’t spontaneous. My dad had spent years piecing together the story — the regiment, the division, the battles, the towns. Once you know your ancestor’s unit, you can trace their movements with remarkable precision. The 398th Infantry’s history is well documented: the landings, the push through the Vosges Mountains, the brutal siege at a small fortified town in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, the crossing into Germany, and the vicious urban combat at Heilbronn in April 1945.
My dad knew the dates. He knew the towns. He knew what happened in them. What he didn’t know — what you can’t know from research alone — was what any of it actually looked like, or felt like, or what it meant to stand in those places.
That’s why they went.
What the Trip Looked Like
They based the itinerary around the path of the 100th Infantry Division — not a standard tourist route. This is the work that a good military heritage trip requires: knowing not just where to go, but in what order, and why, and what to look for when you get there.
They started in Normandy. Even though the 100th Division didn’t land at Normandy — they came through Marseille, later in the campaign — my family started there because it’s where the weight of it begins to settle. The American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, the rows of white crosses, the view to the sea. It’s a place that prepares you for everything else.
From Normandy they moved east — through Paris and into the Alsace-Lorraine region. Strasbourg was a significant stop: a beautiful city with a complicated history, occupied and liberated multiple times, and one of the places the Century Division passed through during the campaign. Standing in a city that has lived through that kind of history changes how you look at it.
The stop in the Alsace-Lorraine region was the one that hit hardest. My grandfather’s regiment fought through a fortified area there during one of the longest sieges of the entire campaign. The Siegfried Line fortifications are still visible in the landscape. The town has documentation of what happened — plaques, memorials, a local historical record that goes deeper than most tourists ever find. My dad said it was the first place where the scale of it became real to him. Not the battles as historical events, but as something his father had physically survived.
Then Germany. Heilbronn, in April 1945, was one of the most intense battles American soldiers fought anywhere in the entire war. Urban combat, block by block, against defenders who had nothing left to lose. My grandfather was there. My family stood in those streets — rebuilt now, of course, nearly unrecognizable from what was left in May 1945 — and tried to understand what it had cost.
My dad came home different. He said it was the most important trip he’d ever taken.
What Made It Work
A trip like this doesn’t just happen by showing up. A few things made the difference.
The research came first. Knowing the exact regiment, division, and movements meant they could build an itinerary with intention rather than guessing. The National Archives, Fold3, and Ancestry hold military records and unit histories that can map a soldier’s movements with remarkable specificity. If you have a family member who served in the European Theater, it’s worth investing time in this research before you go. The more specific you can get, the more the trip transforms from a tour into a pilgrimage.
They also gave themselves time. Heritage trips that feel rushed are disappointing. Each significant location — Normandy, Strasbourg, the Alsace-Lorraine region, Heilbronn — needed room to breathe. You need time to sit with what a place means before you move on.
And they documented everything. Not just photographs, but notes. What they saw, what they read, what locals told them. Heritage trips produce an unusual density of significant moments, and memory alone isn’t enough.
If Your Family Has a Story Like This
The 100th Infantry Division — the Century Division — is one of many American units that pushed through France and into Germany in the final year of the war. Hundreds of thousands of families have a grandfather, great-uncle, or great-grandfather who made that same journey. Most of them never talked about it much.
But the records are there. The places are there. The towns have been rebuilt, but they haven’t forgotten — and neither have the memorials, the archives, the local historians who have been waiting for families like yours to come ask the right questions.
If this kind of trip has been sitting in the back of your mind — whether it’s a WWII itinerary like my family’s, or a different theater, or a different generation entirely — I’d love to help you put it together. Start with my full Heritage Travel guide for an overview of how these trips work and what to plan for. Then reach out, and let’s figure out where your family’s story takes us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out which regiment or division my grandfather served in?
Military service records are your starting point. If your family member served in WWII, you can request records through the National Personnel Records Center or search Fold3 and Ancestry, which have digitized a significant volume of military records. Discharge papers, DD-214 forms, letters, and medal documentation often contain unit information. Once you have the regiment and division, unit histories and after-action reports can map their movements in remarkable detail.
Is it emotionally difficult to visit WWII battlefields and memorial sites?
Yes, and that’s worth knowing before you go. These are not ordinary tourist sites — they’re places where real people died, often in terrible circumstances, and the weight of that is present even after eighty years. Most families who make these trips describe them as genuinely moving experiences, sometimes unexpectedly so. Building time into your itinerary to sit with what you’re seeing — rather than rushing from site to site — makes a significant difference. Many people also find that the difficulty is part of what makes the trip meaningful.
Can a travel advisor help plan a military heritage trip in France and Germany?
Absolutely. Military heritage trips are more logistically complex than standard European itineraries — the significant sites are often in smaller towns without obvious hotel options, the routes don’t follow standard tourist paths, and finding local guides with genuine expertise in WWII unit movements requires specific knowledge. A good travel advisor can handle all of that, help you build an itinerary based on your ancestor’s actual unit and movements, and connect you with local historians and guides who know these areas deeply.
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