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!

Veterans Day

Today is a national holiday in Belgium.  In America, we celebrate Veterans Day, but here, it is even a day for schools, banks, and other businesses to close.  On 11/11/18 at 11:11 am, the armistice with Germany officially began.

We went to a ceremony at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery for a special Veterans Day ceremony.  The kids didn't really want to go, but I felt that it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a celebration of the end of World War I inside one of the countries so heavily affected.  The gratitude of the Europeans for the Americans' part in their liberation is still very strong.

The ceremony was rather simple, but as I looked across the cemetery to the flag while the national anthem played, I was so grateful for the freedom purchased by the sacrifice of those many fallen soldiers.

Ardennes American Cemetery

This morning we took a trip to the Ardennes American Cemetery near our house.  Although it is named the Ardennes, we learned that it is not the burial place of many soldiers from the Battle of the Bulge.  It is the resting place of 5,323 soldiers.  Many of these served in the Air Force.

Looking from the monument toward the flagpole

It wasn't easy to get the kids settled for a picture around the flagpole.

All the flowers pictured here are arrangements placed by various

cities and organizations, including Liège.

Looking from the flagpole back toward the monument.

Among these graves, there are 11 sets of brothers buried side by side.

It was a sobering experience.  The most amazing thing is that this is just one of many American cemeteries in the world.

If you want more information, you can check out the link at Ardennes American Cemetery.