A friendship formed during World War II between an American Army doctor and a young Belgian Resistance fighter created a legacy neither could have imagined: learning across borders and generations. More than 80 years later, their friendship gave Georgia Tech-Europe students the opportunity to hear a firsthand account of history from someone who lived it. 

Capt. William J. Hagood Jr. served as a battalion surgeon with the U.S. Army during the Battle of the Bulge. His medical unit established a first-aid station in the cellar of the family home of Jacques Bourgignon in Belgium. Hagood and Bourgignon formed a friendship that continued through letters and postcards after the war. Decades later, Hagood's granddaughter and Georgia Tech professor, Jennifer Orth-Veillon, organized a visit to Belgium for her travel writing class to retrace the steps of American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge (also known as the Battle of the Ardennes). As part of the learning experience, Orth-Veillon took the students to meet Bourgignon, now 104, to hear firsthand about his wartime experiences. 

Bourgignon joined the Resistance at 17. He and other young people undertook dangerous missions while Belgium was under German occupation. Students were curious about Bourgignon's decision to join the Resistance, the dangers of his missions, and how the war shaped his life. For students several generations removed from World War II, the conversation with Bourgignon offered the opportunity to ask questions of someone who experienced the war when he was even younger than they are today. After listening intently to Bourgignon's experiences in the war, the students asked about lessons he had drawn from his long life that he could share with their generation.

"Be discreet. Observe carefully. Follow instructions when necessary. And give orders the way you would want to receive them," he told them.

Psychology major Harper Church reflected on the importance of preserving first-hand experiences like Bourgignon's. “History is ordinary people standing in ordinary places,” Church wrote. “Memory will fade; we are only human, but the goal is to make sure it does not disappear completely.” For chemical engineering major Ella Beerensson, the experience offered a more human understanding of war, showing how friendship and acts of kindness could emerge amid tragedy and uncertainty, and shape how these experiences are remembered. “I never considered the positive things that people took from war as I was always inclined to focus on the bounty of tragedies and losses,” Beerensson shared.

This Veterans Day, Hagood's legacy reminds us that military service can have an impact far beyond a lifetime. A friendship formed amid war endured for decades and provided an extraordinary learning opportunity at Georgia Tech-Europe. Learning from Bourgignon encouraged students to see history not simply as a record of battles and casualties, but as the stories of ordinary people whose choices, relationships, and memories continue to shape later generations.