A word from Florence
I started
with almost nothing.
My name is Florence Locheron, and I am neither a historian nor a genealogist.
I am simply a daughter trying to help her mother recover a missing part of her story.
My mother, Colette, was born in Paris on March 1, 1946, and grew up in the Soissonnais region of Aisne. She never knew her father. Throughout her life, she had very little information about him. No memories, no photograph and, when I began my research, not even a name.
So I started with almost nothing.
Thanks to a DNA test, extensive research, and the help of people I met in France and the United States, I managed to follow the trail. I discovered that her father was an American soldier who had been in France after the war. I found his identity, traced his life, and located part of his family.
This website tells the story of that search, its discoveries, doubts, encounters, and everything that remains to be understood.
Today, I hope to take my mother to the United States in the footsteps of the father she never knew. I would like her to see the places where he lived, visit his grave, and meet the American family whose existence we did not even know about a few years ago.
FlorenceThe starting point
From the Soissonnais
to Paris, and back.
In the summer of 1945, during the Liberation celebrations, Colette’s mother met an American soldier in the Soissonnais. Colette was conceived there, but no name was ever passed down.
She was born in Paris on March 1, 1946, and later returned to the Soissonnais, where she grew up and built her life. This is why a key part of our local research focuses on Soissons, its archives, and the traces left by US military units in the region.
The DNA tests of Colette and Florence revealed several American genetic matches. In April 2025, exchanges with Matthew P. and Angeline D. narrowed the search to a specific family and territory: the Normans, Joneses, and Millers, established in Virginia and New Jersey. Vivian Miller is currently our primary candidate.
An important distinction. The evidence strongly supports this hypothesis, but Vivian’s paternity will not be presented as definitively proven without direct DNA or documentary confirmation.
The story in pictures
Our story in 2 minutes
From France in 1945 to Virginia in 2027, discover Colette's story and the search that finally allowed us, nearly 80 years later, to identify her American father.
The next chapter: Virginia, together as a family, in 2027.
After years of research, there is one thing DNA and archives can never replace: going there. In 2027, when Colette will be 81, we hope to take her to Virginia to visit the places connected to her father and her American family, and continue this journey together across generations.
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