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Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com
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gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
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Photos courtesy CANDICE EASTON I For The Times
Cornelius Cornelssen VIII.
‘Have
courage’
Daughter asking veterans to bid
farewell to her father, WWII veteran
BY NICK BOWMAN
nbowman@gainesvilletimes.com
Have courage.
That’s how Cornelius Cornelssen
VII signed off on a brief telegram
to his son, Cornelius VIII, who had
just been wounded in Luxembourg
during the Battle of the Bulge in the
winter of 1945.
“Hope wounds not serious
mother and I are praying for you
have courage,” read the telegram,
now an artifact folded and faded
in the possession of Cornelssen’s
granddaughter, his son’s daughter.
Pfc. Cornelius Cornelssen VIII
— born July 25,1925, in Manhattan
and died Dec. 17,2018, in Hoschton
— had courage.
He enlisted into the Army at 18
years old and was a heavy machine
gunner in the 101st Infantry
Regiment.
He was awarded the Bronze Star
for “exemplary conduct in ground
combat against the armed enemy”
during the Rhineland Campaign in
early 1945. He earned two Purple
Hearts for his war wounds in Lux
embourg and Arracourt, in north
ern France.
“He was shot in the calf and he
fell to the ground,” his daughter,
Candice Easton, told The Times
on Christmas Eve about his fight in
Luxembourg. “As he lay there and
waited for medics, he saw some
body going around the field — a
German picking off the wounded.
He lay there and he played dead
and hoped for the best, and he got
bypassed.
“When a medic got there to
help him, he got shot. It was really
something. My dad isn’t very dra
matic — I’m being dramatic about
it — but by the time my father was
taken to a field hospital, he thought
it was over with and he could
finally relax, the field hospital got
bombed and they had to move all
the patients.”
At the end of the war, Cornels
sen would return to Pennsylvania,
where he attended Drexel Univer
sity in Philadelphia on the GI Bill to
study engineering.
He would also meet his wife,
Jeanne Cornelssen, at Drexel
before graduating and going on to
create his own engineering firm in
Camden, New Jersey, across the
Delaware River from Philadelphia.
He moved to North Georgia in
the 1990s to be closer to his chil-
1 1
Pfc. Cornelius Cornelssen VI11 was born July 25,1925, in Manhattan and died Dec. 17, in Hoschton. A celebration
of life is planned for noon Saturday, Dec. 29, in Flowery Branch.
Celebration of
Life for Cornelius
Cornelssen
When: Noon, Dec. 29
Where: Flowery Branch
Masonic Lodge,
5416 Spring Street
More info: Candice Easton,
candice9792@gmail.com
dren. While living in the area, he
attended the Brenau University
Learning and Leisure Institute and
enjoyed local theater.
He lived independently until age
90, when an injury left him in the
care of his daughter. For the past
few years, he lived in the Oaks at
Braselton because of his deteriorat
ing health.
Now, 63 years after Cornelssen
was brought to the ground by a rifle
round halfway around the world,
there’s almost no one left to bid
farewell to the late soldier — a fate
becoming more common for the
longest-lived veterans of WWII.
Cornelssen is survived by two
children, a son in Hilton Head and
his daughter in Hoschton.
With her father already buried
in the Georgia National Cemetery
in Canton only two days after his
death, Easton is trying to give him
a celebration of life worthy of the
man himself.
“My father was a very good
man, and just because he died so
old there’s nobody left to come,”
Easton said, her voice breaking.
“We’re from New York, and he has
two friends up there, and they’re in
their 90s and they won’t be able to
come ... I’m the only one left. I’m
63, I’m having a celebration of life
for him this Saturday in Flowery
Branch at the Masonic Hall, and
I’m worried nobody will come.”
Cornelssen’s celebration of life
is set for noon Saturday, Dec. 29,
at the Flowery Branch Masonic
Lodge on 5416 Spring Street.
Easton invites local veterans
to attend and celebrate her late
father.
“Ever since I stepped into my
father’s life — remember, I was
just this little girl, so I wasn’t some
body he told a whole lot of stories
to — I realize every time my dad
was with veterans or veterans are
together, they have a certain, very
strong, bond and camaraderie,”
Easton said. “There’s a brother
hood, and it matters. They matter
to each other.”
More than 16 million Americans
fought in World War II, and fewer
than 500,000 are estimated to still
live, according to the Department
of Veterans Affairs.
Like other soldiers who returned
from Europe and the Pacific the
aters, Cornelssen at first didn’t talk
much about his time in the war. But
later in his life, he opened up to his
daughter.
“One time, I asked my father
what he was thinking about when he
was sent overseas,” Easton told The
Times. “He answered that he was
thinking the same thing as every
other soldier, ‘I hope I’m brave.’”
Melt away the cold with these warm winter soups
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Chili is one of the soup options available at Sweet Magnolias.
BY KELSEY RICHARDSON
kriciiardson@
gainesvilletimes.com
If you’re already feeling
the post-Christmas blues or
dreading the colder months
ahead, a few tried-and-true
soup places in the area have
you covered.
Warm your winter by try
ing these locally made bowls
of warmth and goodness,
all of which were recom
mended by various soup lov
ers in the community.
Alpha Gyro Grill
Combining their Greek
family recipes, Alpha Gyro
Grill co-owners George Gian-
noulas and Christos Nicolaou,
have created three of their
favorite soups to serve to the
community of Gainesville.
Nicolaou said Giannoulas
prepares each soup from
scratch every day.
“Soup is the elixir of life,
it’s a very nice introductory
course before your meal,”
he said.
Bringing brightness not
only with its yellow hue, but
its flavor, Alpha Gyro Grill’s
lemon chicken soup is more
than meets the eye.
Don’t be fooled by its
creamy texture, the soup
contains no milk.
Although the soup’s base
is made from chicken broth,
the citrusy flavor from the
lemon sings the loudest note.
Other ingredients in the
soup include beaten eggs,
pieces of chicken and orzo, a
short-cut pasta.
For those who want to stay
warmer longer, Nicolaou
recommends the lentil soup.
Completely vegetarian,
the soup is composed of
lentils, onions, garlic, bay
leaves, tomato sauce, car
rots, oregano, spearmint and
other herbs.
The lentils add a full-bod
ied texture to the soup, mak
ing it a filling option for the
winter.
Also known as the staple
food of the Greek Army,
Alpha Gyro Grill makes a
white bean soup.
Nicolaou said he calls
it “mountain soup” for its
heartiness.
The white bean soup is
made of navy beans, onions,
carrots, celery, tomato sauce
and a touch of seasoning
from salt and pepper.
Other options that will soon
pop up on the restaurant’s
menu include garbanzo soup
and beef vegetable soup.
Alpha Gyro Grill is open
from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.,
Monday through Satur
day. You can find it at 215
Jesse Jewell Parkway SE in
Gainesville.
Sweet Magnolias
Cafe & Bakery
Sweet Magnolias Cafe &
Bakery offers a selection of
rotating soups year-round.
Anabel Lopez, manager
of the restaurant, said two of
the most popular options are
the tomato basil soup and
the shrimp and potato soup.
“All of our soups are made
from scratch and nothing is
frozen or preserved,” she
said.
The tomato basil soup is
composed of tomato paste,
fresh garlic and basil. The
shrimp and potato soup con
tains shrimp, carrots, corn
and potatoes.
The restaurant addition
ally makes a chili with
ground beef, chili beans,
tomatoes and special
seasoning.
“The recipe was handed
down from the previous
owners,” Lopez said. “All
of our customers say it’s the
best chili in town because it’s
made fresh.”
Sweet Magnolias Cafe &
Bakery is open from 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m., Monday through
Saturday. It is located in the
Main Street Market at 118
Main St. SW in Gainesville.
Longstreet Cafe
Treat your tastebuds to
Longstreet Cafe’s South
ern soup classics like the
chicken and dumplings and
home-style vegetable soup.
Mixed of onions, pota
toes, green beans, peas
and tomatoes, the restau
rant’s vegetable soup is
the most popular choice
among customers.
“It’s comfort food,”
Bobby Peck, the restau
rant’s general manager
said. “People grew up eat
ing vegetable soup in the
winter time, but we sell it
year-round.”
Every Monday, Long
street Cafe serves its
beloved chicken and
dumplings.
The dumplings are made
out of the restaurant’s
biscuit dough, which are
added to the soup’s broth
and strips of chicken.
Peck said the chicken
and dumplings recipe has
been on the menu since
Longstreet Cafe opened
more than two decades ago.
Other soups people
can find at the restaurant
include Brunswick stew,
clam chowder and bean
soup.
Longstreet Cafe is open
from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-8
p.m., Monday through Sat
urday. The restaurant’s two
Gainesville locations are at
405 Pearl Nix Parkway and
1043 Riverside Terrace.
Want more soup options?
Check out Natural Juice
Cafe at 2480 Limestone
Parkway in Gainesville,
Saigon Deli at 3446 Winder
Highway in Flowery
Branch or Eat At Thai at
975 Dawsonville Highway
in Gainesville.
