My name is Frank Gubbels. I was born in 1982 and live in a small village called Noorbeek, The Netherlands. Noorbeek is the first liberated municipality in The Netherlands so that is an easy start to get interested. I have a special interest in the 30th Infantry Division as the men serving in this Division liberated my hometown in The Netherlands. After the war, they were ranked as the number one Infantry Division in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) by General George C. Marshall.
I am fascinated by the history of World War 2 since I was about 12 years old. Since then, I have had the honor to meet lots of World War 2 veterans from different Divisions. The personal stories from these veterans have always intrigued me and I feel very honored that I had the opportunity to talk to these heroes.
The promise that I made to these veterans is that I see it as my obligation to share their stories with other people and especially with the next generation. Stories from men like Antone “Tony” Jaber, John O’Hare, Peter Munger, George Hamm, Francis Gaudere and many others will be shared with you during a tour. Together we will make sure that we won’t forget what these heroes have been through.
The reason why I started doing research was a miniseries called “Band of Brothers” produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. I had the honor to meet up with 26 veterans of this famous Company. Men like Wild Bill Guarnere, Edward “Babe” Heffron, Forrest Guth, Shifty Powers, Frank Perconte, Don Malarkey and others. Over the years I was also able to walk the former battlefields with many of the actors of this serie.
I am looking forward to hear from you and guide you around.
Frank Gubbels