On this Memorial Day...American Cemeteries in Europe.

[Beemerguy53]

Several weeks ago, I visited some friends in Germany, and took the opportunity to drive over to Luxembourg and Belgium to visit the US Military Cemeteries in those countries.

The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial is located outside Luxembourg City, and is the final resting place of 5,076 Americans, most of whom were killed in the Battle of the Bulge. General George Patton is buried there, as are several members of the 101st Airborne Division's Band of Brothers.

The Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial is just outside Liege, Belgium. While many of its 5,323 graves are those of soldiers killed in the Battle of the Bulge, I learned that a significant number of US Army Air Force personnel are buried there as well. Shot down over German-occupied Europe before D-Day, those airmen were initially buried by the Germans, and then dis-interred and moved to the Ardennes Cemetery for permanent burial as we liberated territory from the Nazis.

My purpose in visiting the Ardennes Cemetery was very personal. The cancer surgeon who saved my life 21 years ago is named for his uncle, a B-24 pilot who was shot down over France in 1943 and is buried there. I wanted to visit Captain Clyde Price's grave and pay my respects, and tell him what a wonderful man his brother's kid turned out to be.

It is very difficult to visit these cemeteries and not be moved to tears by the thought of all those young lives lost in the cause of liberty...more than 10,000 of them. May God bless those brave young men, and those who still mourn for them.

(The American Battle Monuments Commission -- American Battle Monuments Commission -- is the US Government agency that manages our 24 military cemeteries in other countries.)

First are photos from the Cemetery in Luxembourg...

 

[Beemerguy53]

Here are more photos from the Luxembourg Cemetery...

 

[Beemerguy53]

Here are photos from the Ardennes Cemetery in Belgium...

 

[armorer951]

Memorial Day

Thanks for posting these photos......good to be reminded of their sacrifice for our freedoms.

 

[JJEH]

Thank you for sharing this.

 

[pawncop]

Please accept my thanks for sharing this and may all who rest across the seas do so in peace and receive the honor they deserve.

 

[OFT II]

Thanks for posting this. Sadly, we sometimes tend to forget the sacrifice that they made for us.

 

[Jim Kuykendall]

Thanks for reminding us of their sacrifice with these somber pictures.

 

[deserttrans]

Thank you for sharing your experience there.

 

[Cyrano]

I've seen the cemetery at Arromanche, where many of the D Day casualties are buried. I don't think I'd be up to visiting it on Memorial Day, or June 6th, either.

 

[rcnixon]

Thank you to all who have served in war or in peace.

I think it honorable in all the best sense of that word, that our European friends keep our war graves in such magnificent order. It is a tribute to those who gave their lives to liberate their counties.

Russ

 

[fiasconva]

I remember a few years ago watching a news special about the anniversary of D-Day. One of the surviving veterans who went over to participate in it brought a jar of dirt from his hometown to put on the grave of his best friend who he enlisted with. He knelt by his grave and sprinkled the dirt on the grave saying he just wanted his friend to have a little bit of home to rest with. Had to leave the room after that one.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I was honored beyond words to be able to visit the graves of such brave and dedicated young men. In both cemeteries, I found myself walking slowly among the crosses and Stars of David, noting the hometowns and units of some of those buried there.

In Luxembourg, I noticed that two crosses, side by side, bore the same surname, and the Superintendent there explained that there are (if I remember correctly) 41 sets of brothers buried there. I can only imagine the pain their families felt.

And just to clarify: While those cemeteries are on foreign soil, they are administered and maintained by the US Government. Each cemetery has an American superintendent, and US citizens visiting there feel right at home. The American Battle Monuments Commission website has a lot of fascinating information on all the cemeteries for which it is responsible.

Thanks again for your replies...