The association Metz en Guerre is dedicated to the memory of those who fought against the nazi barbarism in Metz and, more generally in France and in Europe. As part of our investigations, we got to know Sandy MacDuffee, the daughter of the soldier John Chichilla who contributed to the Liberation of the city of Metz on November 1944.

Private First Class in the 10th regiment of the 5th American Infantry Division, John was involved in the hard fighting that took place in Moselle. Then, he was sent to Luxembourg with his unit during the German counter-offensive that happened in December in the Ardennes. He was killed in action on the 28th of January 1945 in Putscheid, Luxembourg, three days before his daughter turned 2.

Sandy shared the letters he wrote to her and each of them shows how much he was missing his wife and daughter. He was a loving and caring husband, a simple man caught by the agony of a world at war that led him towards his tragic destiny. She also spoke about her own path and the life she had with her mother after her father died.

We have been very touched by the story of John and Sandy. Therefore, we would like to help Sandy to come to Metz to retrace the footsteps of her father, a project she never turned into reality so far.

Metz en Guerre did a lot of research, looked into maps and historical documents about John's unit and its strategic operations. We know exactly where and when he joined the regiment and we tracked in the field the exact locations he went through. We are now able to make her daughter relive his story. A tour that we would like to conclude by the Memorial Day ceremony in 2026 at the Luxembourg American Cimetery in Hamm, where John now lies forever next to his brothers in arms.

This project is part of the duty of rememberance we are striving for. We want to highlight the individual History of those men who crossed the Atlantic and got killed in a far away land to free the world from oppression. Thus, we want to perpetuate the friendship between our country and the United States of America.

Let's never forget.