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In the year 1194 a magnificent cathedral began to rise from the plains 50 miles southwest of Paris, France. Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres was mostly completed by 1250 and consecrated 10 years later. There it has stood little changed these many centuries, drawing countless religious pilgrims and awestruck heathens alike to behold this testimony to the power of human achievement. It also stands in direct defiance to the power humans have to destroy.
It is hard to overstate the magnificence of Chartres Cathedral, at once empowering and humbling. This crown jewel of France is, of course, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and arguably the finest example of French Gothic architecture that exists. And had it not been for the bravery of a soldier from Quanah, Texas, it likely would have been lost to the world forever.
In the spring of 1940, as France braced for the impending German invasion, cultural treasures were secreted away in hopes of keeping them from being stolen or destroyed. Chartres Cathedral's beautifully preserved 12th and 13th stained glass windows and other treasures were removed and hidden in the countryside. However the cathedral itself, which had endured even the pillaging and plundering during the chaos of the French Revolution, had never been in more grave peril.
In August of 1944, as General Patton's Third Army waited for orders to liberate Paris, the XX Corps busied itself mopping up German occupation of the surrounding areas. One division was stationed just outside of Chartres, under fire and readying to wrest the town from the enemy.
As was the tragic case of so many of Europe's treasured churches and cathedrals, their soaring spires were used by the Germans as strategic observation posts and defensive positions. This made them particularly desirable targets during battle and countless churches were summarily obliterated. As plans were drawn to enter Chartres, an order was issued to shell the cathedral based on unconfirmed suspicion that it was being occupied by the Germans. With the survival of one of western civilization's most precious gems balancing on a knife blade, one man decided that he would risk his own life before allowing that to happen. His name was Welborn Griffith, a colonel and logistics officer from the great state of Texas.
After gaining permission to voluntarily cross enemy lines, he and an uncredited enlisted man managed to avoid German detection as they made their way to the cathedral. Under constant threat knowing that with every step they took, they may come face to face with the adversary, they climbed the towers to find them deserted. Griffith and his equally heroic unrecorded companion made it back to their unit and reported the all-clear. The shelling of the great church was rescinded even as the town around it suffered heavy damage during ensuing battle.
The same day that the Allies took Chartres they moved to the little village of Lèves just north of the city. There Griffith spied a machine gun nest and ordered an attack. Too large a man to fit through the hatch, he mounted the turret of a tank. As the tank attacked the nest, Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr. was shot and killed, within sight of Chartres cathedral behind him. His body was buried along with 4,413 fellow soldiers at St. James cemetery in Brittany, France. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, and the French Croix de Guerre.
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr. (ASN: 0-16194), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Operations Officer (G-3) with Headquarters, XX Corps, in action against enemy forces on 16 August 1944 at Chartres and Leves, France. On 16 August 1944, Colonel Griffith entered the city of Chartres, France, in order to check the actual locations and dispositions of units of the 7th Armored Division which was occupying the city. Upon observing fire being directed at the cathedral in the center of the city, with utter disregard for his own safety, Colonel Griffith, accompanied by an enlisted man, searched the cathedral and finding that there were no enemy troops within, signaled for cessation of fire. Continuing his inspection of outlying positions north of the city, he suddenly encountered about fifteen of the enemy. He fired several shots at them, then proceeded to the nearest outpost of our forces at which point a tank was located. Arming himself with an M-1 rifle and again with complete disregard for his own safety, Colonel Griffith climbed upon the tank directing it to the enemy forces he had located. During the advance of the tank he was exposed to intense enemy machinegun, rifle, and rocket-launcher fire and it was during this action, in the vicinity of Leves, France, that he was killed.
General Orders: Headquarters, Third U.S. Army, General Orders No. 75 (October 21, 1944)
Welborn Griffith's name faded from American memory to all but a few of his direct decendents, yet, the people of Lèves and Chartres never forgot his sacrifice. A plaque was dedicated to him, placed where he died. Only, due to an unfamiliarity with the name placement of American dog tags, they reversed his name on the plaque. When the error was finally discovered by a local historian named Bertrand Papillon, he contacted Griffeth's daughter who learned that the people of France have never forgotten her father. She was present when Lèves replaced the plaque with the correct spelling of her father's name, Chartres Cathedral still standing just to the southwest.
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