Renée Lemarie was born on this day (April 10th, 1914) 112 years ago.
Celebrate her birthday with me by reading her story.
Renée was born in Bastogne to Gustave Lemaire and Berth Gallée, and was just 30 years old when the fighting broke out upon Adolf Hitlers orders shortly after the arrival of the 10st Airborne Division in Bastogne.
Renée was visiting family at the time the Germans had launched their Ardennes Offensive. She hastily volunteered to nurse the wounded soldiers since she was essentially trapped and unable to make her way back to Brussels- where she resided before the war- due to the German resistance. As of the 21 December 1944, she then worked within a makeshift hospital for the American 20th Armored Infantry Battalion, located on the Neufchâteau road.
The wonderful Renée Lemarie was described by Captain Jack T. Prior, (the Battalion surgeon she worked alongside) as "cheerfully accepted the Herculean task and worked without adequate rest or food...", that she "changed dressings, fed patients unable to feed themselves, gave out medications, bathed and made the patients more comfortable...", and "her very presence among those wounded men seem to be an inspiration to those whose morale had declined from prolonged suffering” She selflessly put her own life at risk in order to bring comfort and peace to the young boys who gave their lives and souls for her country.
Having heard Renée had hopes to marry, Jack T. Prior had set aside a parachute for her, figuring she could use the silk material to make her wedding dress. However, days later On December 24th 1944, Christmas Eve, around 20:30, German forces sent out an air raid in which two bombs fell upon the hospital. Renée Lemarie was found dead beneath the rubble alongside 30 GI’s. Jack T. Prior was the one who found her and had taken it upon himself to wrap her body (that some sources claim was split in two) in that very same parachute he kept for her, that subsequently became the shroud used to carry her home to her parents.
According to a Belgian newspaper, Renée continued her valiant pursuit during the bombing in which she saved six wounded soldiers by helping them evacuate the aid station. Unfortunately, she was unable to complete her attempt in fleeing a seventh man. Renée Lemarie died with honour to her name, honour those six soldiers would carry with them for the remainder of their lives.
A week later, The American surgeon wrote the following to his Commanding General: "I recommend the highest award possible to one, who though not a member of the armed forces of the United States, was of invaluable assistance to us". Sadly, Renée has yet to be awarded for her bravery by the U.S. Army.
Here is a photograph taken of the Hospital after the bombing. Today it exists as a Chinese restaurant.
Renée Lemarie is buried in the Bastogne cemetery where she is honoured for her courageous contribution of aid.
1-Family: Lemaire Gallee Renée Lemaire, Nurse, Died Tragically: December 24, 1944.
2-in memory. Site of the Aid Station of the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 10th Armored Division where more than thirty wounded Americans and a volunteer Belgian nurse (Renée Lemaire) were killed by a German bomb on December 24, 1944.
Additional information/facts:
Her parents owned a Hardware store in Bastogne.
She had two sisters, Gisèle and Marguerite.
Renée was the fiancée of a Jewish man who was arrested in Brussels by the Gestapo earlier in the year.
Please do reach out and correct me if you know for a fact that anything i have said here is factually incorrect. I tried extremely hard to get multiple sources before saying anything so i hope nothing has been too twisted.
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