'They wanted to be together': Nebraska twins killed in 1944 will be reunited at Normandy

By Steve Liewer / World-Herald staff writer Jan 10, 2018 Updated 10 hrs ago

They’ll be together again. Finally.

On June 19, 1944, death separated Julius and Ludwig Pieper, identical twins from Creston, Nebraska. A mine tore apart LST-523, the flat-bottomed Navy cargo ship both served on, just offshore from the newly established Normandy beachhead. The brothers, age 19, died along with more than 200 other U.S. servicemen.

“Everywhere they went, they went together,” recalled Mary Ann Lawrence, 88, their only surviving sibling. “They were normal, average boys.”

The body of Ludwig — known as “Louie” to friends and family — was recovered and buried beneath a white cross at Normandy American Cemetery. But no one ever found Julius, known as “Henry.” His body was lost with the ship, which sank to the bottom of the English Channel.

FULL story: http://www.omaha.com/news/military/they-wanted-to-be-together-nebraska-twins-killed-in-will/article_3dfb0edd-578f-53e2-9a6c-97903276faca.html