Rik’s father was 1st Lieutenant John S.S. Peirson, a member of the 75th Infantry Division, who was killed at the age of 32 on Christmas Day 1944, on the hill of La Roumière in Erezée. Mobilized in the army only a few days after his son’s birth, the time the father and son shared was unfortunately cut short.
In 2019, Rik Peirson decided to make the trip to Europe for the first time. After visiting his father’s grave in the Military Cemetery of Henri-Chapelle, he visited the Bastogne War Museum. There he discovered the reconstitution of the lieutenant’s tombstone, alongside 16 other tombs reproduced to pay tribute to the 24,000 victims of the Battle of the Bulge. It was a very poignant moment for the son who was separated too early from his father.
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