Submitted photo Vincent Evers, 25, of Belgium, who is part of the Sentinel of Memory / Grave Adoption Program, kneels next to the gravesite of World War II veteran Vincent S. Belanski of Youngstown. Belanski, who served in the U.S. Army before being killed in action Jan. 6, 1945, is buried in Henri-Chapelle Cemetery in Belgium.

A Belgian man is seeking information about a local fallen soldier separated from him by half a world and at least four generations.

“I am interested in both his military and personal life. I would love to have more detailed information on his campaign in Europe during World War II and the role he played there. I am also interested to know who he was before the war,” said Vincent Evers, 25, referring to Staff Sgt. Vincent S. Belanski of Youngstown.

Last month, Evers started conducting research on the World War II U.S. Army veteran after becoming his sentinel as part of an initiative in Belgium called the Sentinel of Memory / Grave Adoption Program, which began shortly after the war. At the time, local villagers began paying their respects to American service personnel who had made the ultimate sacrifice, largely by tending to their individual gravesites.

“The locals saw it as their duty to take care of these soldiers, since their own families were not able to do so from America,” Evers explained. “At the time of the second Memorial Day in 1946, all of the 8,000-plus soldiers were already adopted by local Dutch families, and the waiting list has been growing ever since.”

Evers learned that Belanski was born May 4, 1922, in Youngstown to Frank J. and Catherine Toth Belanski and was a 1940 Chaney High School graduate. His name is on a Gold Star memorial wall at the high school that honors alumni killed during battle.

Afterward, Belanski received his training at Camp Atterbury, Ind., in Nashville, Tenn., and at Camp Breckenridge, Ky., according to his February 1945 obituary from The Vindicator.

Before his induction into the Army in October 1942, Belanski worked for the Carnegie Steel Corp., a division of U.S. Steel Corp. He also served with the 83rd Infantry Division, 330th Infantry Regiment, which left the U.S. for England on April 6, 1944. In late June 1944, he landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.

In addition to Normandy, Belanski’s campaign took him to Brittany, France, Luxembourg, Loire Valley and the Hurtgen Forest, the site of fierce battles from September to December 1944 between American and German forces. He also was wounded during the Battle of Saint Lo in 1944 near Normandy.

On Jan. 6, 1945, Belanski was killed in action at age 22 in Ardennes, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. He is buried in the Henri-Chapelle American War Cemetery in Belgium.

For his service, Belanski received a number of commendations and awards that included the Purple Heart, a Combat Infantryman Badge and a World War II Victory Medal. Others were an Army Presidential Unit Citation, a Marksmanship Badge, an American Campaign Medal and an Army Good Conduct Medal.

Evers said his desire to research Belanski’s life and act as his sentinel can be distilled down to four main objectives: to honor the local man for his service and express gratitude for his sacrifices; to provide comfort to the fallen serviceman’s surviving family members by ensuring them someone is looking after him; to make the life Belanski lived “more personal and alive”; and to carry on the Sentinel of Memory program’s tradition.

“The more personal, the better, really, because I believe that it is important to find out who the people behind the 8,000 gravestones are,” Evers explained. “The gravestones are all beautiful, but they are a bit too impersonal and don’t tell a story. By finding out personal details about Vincent, I hope I can make his story come alive.”

Evers added that when he is satisfied with his findings, he intends to share them on various online World War II service profile sites, which may include the American Overseas Memorial Day Association (www.aomda.org). The association keeps track of known service personnel buried in Belgium.

Nevertheless, another thrust behind Evers’ work is to reach across the Atlantic and perhaps one day connect physically with any of Belanski’s descendants, he said.

“I also hope to get and stay in contact with Vincent’s family very soon,” Evers said. “Perhaps we can even meet one day and visit Vincent’s grave together.”

Anyone with additional information about Belanski is asked to email Evers at vinceevers@outlook.com.