Family donates WWII artifacts to Paris Liberation museum
By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
PARIS — Heidi Fluck Goulding noticed an empty exhibit display case in the Paris Liberation Museum, Paris France.
“A small sign written in French was nearby,” said Heidi, a 2012 Brandon High School graduate. “My French is not that good. Luckily there was an English translation.”
This space is reserved for an object, a letter or photograph belonging to an American soldier who was in Paris on the 25 August 1945. Please help us to this achieve ambition.
That request was fulfilled.
Heidi’s chance discovery at the museum triggered a process that would bring honor to an American soldier and family member who was one of the first to liberate Paris more than 80 years earlier.

The museum finding began in September 2019, when Heidi along with her father Bob Fluck traveled to Western Europe tracing the military path of their uncle John Fluck who had served with the 4th Infantry Division, sailed to England to prepare for the Allied landings. On D-Day, June 5, 1944 John landed in the second wave on Utah Beach. He then moved inland, eventually marching through Paris, Aug. 25, 1944 as a part of the liberation following more than four years of Nazi Germany rule. After leaving Paris, John and the 4th Infantry were engaged on the southern flank of the Battle of the Bulge.
Using military maps and landmarks Bob and Heidi covered much of John’s trek through then war-torn Europe 80 years earlier.
“We had been to Normandy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Paris,” said Bob, who also served in the military 1973-75.
The last part of the trip was in Paris and visited the Liberation of Paris Museum, which is housed on top of a bunker used by the French resistance during WWII. Part of their display missing was the work of American soldiers helping the French people toward liberation. As a result, the museum was seeking information about anyone in Paris at the time.
“There was an empty display case,” said Heidi. “They wanted information about those Americans that were part of the liberation forces. At that point we knew exactly what the museum needed.”
The Fluck family had kept several of John’s personal items from his time in the service.
Several factors needed careful consideration, including the donated artifacts, which included his original jacket, medals and photos, became the permanent property of the French government. In addition, there was no guarantee that John’s artifacts were going to be used in the museum. The process requires authentication and a determination the items would fit the museum’s needs. Still, the family decided to move forward with the donation.
“We decided to donate those items because their ability to preserve the artifacts was better than ours,” she said. “And, if it ended up sitting in a French government basement for next 100 years at least someone four generations on would discover it and use it. Consider if it was in our basement it would just be moldy.”
The artifacts were mailed to the French Museum and after almost a year it was made a permanent display.
“It was great to see all this effort culminating into something that was valuable to the museum and an addition to history,” she said. “It’s great Uncle John gets to represent all the GI(s) that had boots on the ground. He would not have sought this out on his own. But he would be proud to represent his brother’s in arms.”
The family agrees on the need to preserve history.
“Uncle John would not seek this honor out,” said Bob. “But, John would be very proud, if you could get him to talk about it, he would say it was his job and he had to do it.”
After leaving Paris John Fluck’s battery during the Battle of the Bulge came under fire from German artillery. While under fire, he climbed into the fresh shell craters and surveyed the displaced dirt. He then used that information to draw lines that intersected at the enemy’s position. A neighboring Allied artillery unit then used John’s map coordinates to shell the suspected position. Some time after the war, Bob questioned how and whether that method of surveying worked.
Uncle John modestly said, “The shelling stopped.” He was awarded the Bronze Star for these actions.
He entered Germany in the spring of 1945, where he remained until the war in Europe was over. John returned to the United States and began training for the invasion of Japan. After Japan surrendered, he was discharged in September 1945.
Upon returning to the United States, Uncle John waited for his brother to return from serving in the Philippines. Uncle John continued to work as a surveyor in civilian life. He received the European Theater Ribbon with six Battle Stars and the Bronze Star for action in the Hurtgen Forest. John Fluck died May 1, 1998 at the age of 80.