Flowers of Memory: Young French sisters tend to graves American soldiers laid to rest in France
Frank Steck of Smock was 3 years old when his uncle, Sgt. Paul Denitti, was killed during the Battle of Plabennec on Aug. 10, 1944 in Brittany, France during World War II.
“I can remember seeing him one time. He was home on leave and he stayed at our house. He was my mother’s older brother,” said Steck, 74, who is retired from the Veterans Administration in Pittsburgh and works part-time with Amedisys Home Care and Hospice.
A native of Monessen, Westmoreland County and one of 12 children, Denitti, 24, was a tank commander in Gen. George Patton’s Sixth Armored Division of the Army. He was one of 75 Americans killed in battle while on a mission to liberate Brest. They are buried in Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial near St. James. The 29-acre cemetery contains nearly 4,500 graves of soldiers, most of whom lost their lives in the Normandy and Brittany campaigns of 1944.
“It scarred my grandmother for life,” said Steck of his uncle’s death. “She wasn’t constantly depressed but there was a void. I knew my mother was sad. She really loved him.”
An Air Force veteran, Steck developed an interest in World War II as a child that has continued through his lifetime. But Steck and his wife, Deborah Steck, were caught unawares when they were contacted three years ago by a young French woman who told them she was placing flowers on Denitti’s grave.
Today, the Stecks are good friends with Clemence and Lisa Moalli, sisters from Cherbourg, France, who are visiting them this month. They consider each other family.
Clemence Moalli, 19, who is a history student at Caem University in Normandy, began decorating the graves of Denitti and 11 other American soldiers as part of an organization called Flowers of Memory that commemorates the bravery of American war dead in France. Les Fleurs de la Memoire place flowers of the graves of soldiers because their own families can’t.
Clemence Moalli became involved with Flowers of Memory after her parents encouraged her to watch the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan” five years ago to learn what Allied forces did for France.
“I asked them to drive me to the cemetery. When I saw all the graves, I was overwhelmed,” Clemence Moalli remembered. “I promised myself I would do something for them.”
In 2011, Clemence Moalli became involved with Flowers of Memory, which tends graves in two of the many American military cemeteries in France. Her younger sister, Lisa Moalli, 14, who is a high school freshman, joined later.
“I’m proud to be following in my sister’s path,” smiled Lisa Moalli, who takes flowers to the graves of three American and one Canadian soldiers at St. James as well as to the Utah Beach Monument at Colleville, which includes the name of Anthony Constantine of Smock.
The Moallis and Stecks explained Constantine was part of the 66th Infantry Division that was traveling on the SS Leopoldville, which was transporting his unit from England to France when it was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat five miles offshore on Christmas Eve 1944. Constantine was among the 763 dead. His body was one of nearly 500 never recovered.
And while someone else has adopted the soldier, since becoming friends with the Stecks, Clemence Moalli also puts flowers on the grave of Mikael Balock, who was also killed in the Battle of Plabennec and whose sister, Sister Dorothy Balock, is a Sister of St. Basil at Mount St. Macrina in Uniontown.
The Moallis, who lived in Brest when they started the project and now live in Cherbourg, decorate the graves about four times a year.
“It’s commendable that they would do something like this,” said Frank Steck of the Moalli sisters. “For them to go to St. James, it’s like going from here to Cleveland.”
As the Moalli sisters adopted these soldiers, they were encouraged by their parents to learn more about them. They began doing research and started correspondence with many of the families. They included Marge Denitti of Perryopolis, who was Paul Denitti’s sister-in-law. She put Clemence Moalli in touch with the Stecks.
Clemence Moalli first met the Stecks when she traveled to Chicago in July 2012 as part of a student exchange program. The Stecks met her there and she invited them to visit France.
The Stecks made their first trip that same year, seeing Denitti’s grave for the first time.
Tears well in the eyes of Deborah Steck and the Moalli sisters as they recall that visit.
“It was overwhelming,” said Deborah Steck. “There are crosses as far as you can see.”
“It was very emotional,” said Frank Steck,” They have a memorial there to honor the soldiers killed in the battle. When we went, it was covered with a flag and when they took it down, I saw my uncle’s picture there. It’s such a sad thing. All those young guys.”
The Stecks traveled to Normandy in 2014, wanting to be there for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Maintaining their friendship, the Stecks and Moallis took in the commemoration together.
“It was huge. We had to have special invitations to get into the cemetery because President Obama and the president of France were there,” said Deborah Steck.
“We went to Utah Beach the day before and there must have been 300 restored military vehicles there. It was just fascinating,” said Frank Steck, recalling seeing D-Day veterans there. “It’s such a sacred place.”
This month, the Moalli sisters are visiting the Stecks in Fayette County, who plan to take them to visit America’s historic places in the region as well as families of some of the other soldiers they have adopted.
As America celebrates its independence this weekend, Frank Steck reflected on the holiday, saying, “It’s an opportunity to honor people who have served and current people in the military. I think they should remember the ones who have been killed. Hopefully we will not forget.”
In France, there are those who are unwilling to let that happen.
Clemence Moalli said of those young soldiers, “I was born to make their memories and sacrifices known.”