Uncovering the Maquisards of Valenciennes

The Search for the Unknown Faces of the French Resistance

The photograph above, of Neil Mathisen, a veteran of the 99th Infantry Battalion, shows him sitting in front of a group of resistance fighters and fellow soldiers. Mathisen originally sent this to my father, but there were no notes on the back—no names, no location—just an image frozen in time. For years, it hung above my desk as a quiet challenge, a re…