Bracelet to stay in Netherlands to honor WWII vet

Often in his conversations with his daughter, Louis Slanina spoke about his service in the Army during World War II. He had served in Europe fighting the Nazis, and the images of his time at war remained fresh in his mind over the years. His oral histories ended when Slanina died last year at age 93, and his daughter, Donna Slanina-Ruiz, missed them.

Then, out of the blue last week, she was reminded that her father's stories - and her father's spirit - were very real.

Via an e-mail message, a man in the Netherlands told Slanina-Ruiz that he had gone hunting with a metal detector in a wooded area not far from his home and unearthed an engraved bracelet her father had lost during fighting near Germany's western border. His military serial number was right on it, as were the words "Love Mary," a tribute to Slanina's wife, Mary, whom he had married less than a year earlier. Slanina-Ruiz eagerly accepted his offer to return it to the family.

Then she abruptly changed her mind, asking instead that the man, Robbie Kerver, preserve her father's memory by keeping the bracelet in the country where he fought in battle. It would be a small, but important gesture in memory of her father.

"I think this was a sign from my father not to forget him," said Slanina-Ruiz of Glen Head, where her parents also lived. "My father always talked about the war. He was always proud of his status as a veteran."

As the nation celebrates Veterans Day - begun as Armistice Day in the aftermath of World War I, when fighting ended on the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 - many families cherish mementos that keep memories of veterans alive for spouses and children - a coffin flag, a faded photograph of someone in uniform, a piece of jewelry worn by a far younger man or woman, and, of course, the stories told and retold around the dinner table to children and grandchildren.

Louis Slanina, a Czech immigrant who joined the Army in 1942 and rose to staff sergeant, apparently lost the engraved bracelet during fighting on an open field in eastern Netherlands near the German border. He had reached the European mainland during the June 1944 D-Day invasion and was with the 48th Armored Infantry Battalion that Oct. 1 when his unit came under heavy fire during the Battle of Overloon. He was wounded and was later awarded the Purple Heart.

Kerver, the history buff who found the bracelet, said even now members of Slanina's 48th Armored Battalion are revered in Dutch border villages near Overloon for having driven Nazi troops out of the area.

"He is a hero, because he assisted in the liberation of the Netherlands," Kerver, 29, told Newsday in an e-mail.

Kerver said he found the bracelet during a metal detector search of a woodland that also turned up a loaded M-1 rifle and other wartime items. Kerver, who lives about 30 miles from the battlefield, says he keeps military memorabilia on display as a reminder of the war's heavy toll and as a memorial to the liberators.

He said he found Donna Slanina-Ruiz through an Internet search, aided by the fact that the bracelet was engraved with Louis Slanina's military serial number, and by the inscription "Love Mary." Mary Slanina is Louis Slanina's widow, who survives him. They were married in January 1944. Louis Slanina was a woodworker until he retired in 1988.

Since her father's death, Slanina-Ruiz has sought comfort in mementos that are seemingly everywhere in her world - including photographs of him in his garden tending prized clematis blooms, and a pagoda-style case he made for her to display a favorite doll.

She said she feels the bracelet should remain with Kerver to help Dutch citizens remember the sacrifices made by U.S. soldiers who fought for their liberation.

"He mentioned that my father was a hero in his town, so we felt it would be selfish of us to take it," Slanina-Ruiz said.

"I would love to have it," she said. "But I think that's where it ought to be. It would be nice for the town to have a piece of something good."

Veterans Day:

The Armistice ending World War I, also known as the Great War, was signed in a railway car in a wooded clearing in Compiègne, France. The fighting that claimed an estimated 16 million lives — and millions more civilians — came to an end at the 11th minute, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918. Thus Nov. 11 came to be celebrated as Armistice Day. The day was later renamed Veterans Day. 

American troops entered the fighting in 1917. 116,516 Americans were killed, and 204,002 were wounded. 

Long Island’s last World War I veteran was George Bergman of Sands Point. He died in 1999 at the age of 101.