Memorial Day Ceremony at the Cemetery des Ardennes

I love Memorial Day!  In Utah, we have a big family picnic and party.  As a kid, I anticipated it almost as much as Christmas.  This year it was special in a very different way.

As I have mentioned before, we live rather close to an American Cemetery where lie many of the fallen from World War II.  At 1000 hours on the Saturday before Memorial Day, Ben and I went to the memorial ceremony.  The kids had gone to the ceremony for Veteran's Day, and they didn't want to go to another one.  (Also, we overslept a little and would have had a hard time getting all five kids out the door on time!)  At the cemetery, we ran into the senior missionary couple here in Liège and sat with them.

This ceremony was very well-attended!  There were lots of chairs and visiting dignitaries, including a representative of the King of the Belgians.

For me, the most moving moments were National Anthem.  School children from Rotheux, where the kids would have gone to school, sang the anthems of both Belgium and the United States.  At the end, the American band played the National Anthem again.  Hearing that music while looking over the crosses and stars of the cemetery was an experience I cannot describe and never want to forget.  Hearing Belgian children honor Americans who died for their freedom was powerful, too.  I wish the girls could have come, but I was glad that I could concentrate and appreciate the event without wrangling the boys.

Lots of Belgian flags.  In front, there are school children from Rotheux,
the larger town near us.

Beautiful wreaths, American military band, and Belgian soldiers

In the back, you can see some of the veterans who came

The band was very good.

Ben and Robin after the ceremony

In other news, we are now counting down the days until we return to Utah.  We have just over 2 weeks!