Liberation Tour 2024: Day 11 - Three cemeteries and goodbye

This is it. The last day of Liberation Tour 2024. Tomorrow we board a plane in Paris to fly home via Chicago. The last 11 days have absolutely flown by.

Today, the final day on the continent, as the elite say, we visited three more cemeteries, bringing our total to nine. We left Spa this morning and started at Netherlands American Cemetery, where we visited our Nebraska National Guard troops buried there. One of them was adopted by a Dutch family, who takes care of his grave. Jack (the grandfather) and Luke (the grandson) came today so we could meet them. They said this soldier, John Connelly, Jr., is his name, had red hair. That pierced my heart - my dad was a redhead.

Jack and Luke and their family adopted John Connelly Jr.'s grave at Netherlands American Cemetery.

As we browsed the names of the missing, one caught Donna’s eye - Lyle W. Reab, a private in the 112th Infantry 28th Division from Nebraska. He had a rosette next to his name, which means he has since been identified. His family had his remains brought back to Nebraska, to Giltner, in fact, and both Donna and Dean attended that funeral.

After we finished in the Netherlands, we moved on to Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. One of our group, Michelle Waite, is connected to this cemetery – her grandfather is buried there. There’s one NNG soldier, as well, and we also visited the grave of the grandfather of the Meuse Argonne superintendent. Michelle’s grandfather was killed when her mother was four. She brought some pictures so we could see him and her mom. She has one of his letters to her great-aunt and uncle, which was more realistic than the picture he painted for his wife (Michelle’s grandmother). She said he also carried a pair of her mom’s silk baby stockings with him.

After a very brief stop to grab a sandwich, about half of us were back on the bus to head up to the Ardennes American Cemetery. It was worth the drive. Our guide, Damon, told us a little about the cemetery, which is home to over 800 unidentified soldiers in addition to those who are known. The cemetery has soldiers exhumed on a regular basis to try to determine who they are using DNA. In fact, a couple graves had already been prepared for exhumations, which was interesting to see.

He also told us about the significance of the rosette that’s placed next to names on the record of the missing to indicate they have been found. The ring around it is rosemary, for remembrance as you may remember from Hamlet. The points inside are the compass rose, which means the U.S. government will go wherever and do whatever it takes to find out who these young men are.

We have one soldier buried at Ardennes, and neither of the previous tours made it to the cemetery to visit him. I’m really glad we did, and I’m glad I was able to go.

In total, we visited all 63 of our soldiers who are in American cemeteries in Europe this trip, plus two – Michelle's grandfather and Bruce's grandfather (he's the superintendent at Meuse Argonne). That’s a lot of cemeteries, true, but that’s also a lot of opportunities to thank those soldiers and their families for their service, for fighting and dying in the cause of freedom and liberty.

As I said yesterday, there are still a lot of things I want to write about from this trip. I’m still processing some of them, so it’ll be after we get home that I can pound those out. I want to write about the soldiers our group is directly connected to. I want to write about the different cemeteries and what they’re like. I want to write about the quotes found at these different locations.

So while the tour itself might be coming to an end, I plan to write about those topics before I put a bow on this trip.

Tomorrow, as I said, we head for home. It’s been a fun trip, a tiring couple weeks, but a good time.

Liberation Tour 2024: Day 10 - Battle of the Bulge and Spa

 We left Nancy this morning, crossed Luxembourg and arrived in Belgium. While in Luxembourg, we stopped at the Luxembourg American Cemetery to visit the graves of the Nebraska National Guard soldiers buried there. After laying a wreath and sanding the graves, we wandered around the cemetery for a bit. No two cemeteries are alike. While each has a chapel overlooking the rows upon rows of white crosses, each has its own unique artwork. This one features fountains with dolphins and turtles.

Gen. George Patton is buried at Luxembourg, so we paid our respects. He’s buried at the front of the cemetery, at the head of the army. The rows of crosses curve in this cemetery, and I wondered if it was to give an amphitheater effect, like the general was speaking to the ranks.

Then we headed out into the countryside to visit the memorial at Lutremange, part of the Battle of the Bulge near Bastogne. This battle was fought in 1944 in the bitter cold of winter, with feet of snow on the ground and with untested troops. Eventually the Allies, including the 35th Division (of which the 134th Infantry (Nebraska National Guard) was part), pushed the Germans back and liberated Bastogne and the region. We met with Pat Shannon, who is originally from Wisner, and he talked us through the action. The deputy mayor of Bastogne and some of her staff came out, as well as members of the Belgian Resistance for a wreath-laying ceremony.

This pillbox is part of the Lutremange memorial.

We continued on into Bastogne and visited the War Museum there. The final post of the Road to Liberty, which began at Utah Beach, is located at this museum. It also includes the story of that winter as told from the view of a child, a Belgian Resistance member, a member of the German army and an American soldier. That makes it a unique experience and an interesting one. The monument is still under renovation, but the crypt was open, so I stopped there for a few minutes. An overlook also lets you see the entire valley where thousands died during the war.

This book includes bookmarks made from parachute cords.

Cows might roam the hillsides now, but in the early 1940s, this valley was the site of what we call the Battle of the Bulge.

We arrived in Spa, a place none of us has been, for the end of our tour. It’s a town of about 10,000 people - not much bigger than Seward - and is known for its health benefits. Birgitta told us people have come for hundreds of years to drink the water, which is supposed to improve your health.

Tomorrow is the last day here in Europe for this tour. We’ve got three cemeteries on the agenda - Margraten, Henri-Chapelle and Ardennes. Then it’s a very short night and off to the airport. I can’t believe we’re almost to that point already.

Liberation Tour 2024: Day 9 - Lorraine and the mayor

Today was another light day, giving us time to relax, unwind and actually enjoy the town in which we’re staying. We are at Nancy in France, which was the home of Duke Stanislas, father of Marie Leszczyńska who married Louis XV. A statue of Stanislas stands in the center of the square on which our hotel, La Hotel Reina, is located. This hotel was built in the 18th century, along with the other buildings around the square. It’s a beautiful place - third most beautiful square in Europe, according to a lady from the Netherlands I met yesterday.

You can see the moon rising between the two buildings.

Speaking of light, Nancy is home to a light show during the summer. Every night at 10:45, lights cover the buildings on three sides of the square, set to music, making interesting patterns and designs. I went the first two nights we were here - the first night to get the overall sense of the show and the second to get a few photos, now that I knew what to watch for. Unfortunately for the manmade light show, the full moon rose between two of the downtown buildings and upstaged the lights.

Today we had one stop on our agenda – Lorraine American Cemetery. This is one of those places that just takes your breath away. When you come across the plaza and see the rows upon rows of simple white crosses stretching down the hill, across the valley and up the next hill, it’s heart-rending. Every one of those markers represents a young man who never got to live up to his potential, never got to be what he wanted to be when he grew up, never came back home. Words and pictures really don’t do it justice. You have to feel it. And if that doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you’re not letting yourself be touched.

After we laid the wreath at the chapel, we visited the grave of Charley Havlat. Charley was the last American killed in the war. He’s from just down the road from me in Dorchester. We also visited the grave ot Thomas Higley. His nephew and wife, Tom and Kathy, are on the tour this summer (they raised the flag at Flavigny Bridge) – Kathy sanded his grave. We then divided into groups and headed into the cemetery to sand the graves of our Nebraska National Guard boys. 

After spending a little time wandering the rows of markers, reading names and wondering who they were and who they might have been, we headed back to Nancy. We had most of the afternoon off, so some of us found an open cafe and had a light lunch. We got to meet the mayor of Nancy, Mathieu Klein, for a brief ceremony and then met for dinner.

Jerry Meyer, left, presents a couple coins to Mathieu Klein, the mayor of Nancy.

I did not go to the light show tonight, although if I leaned out my hotel window I could see it. It was kind of cool to see the lights in profile, as it were.

Tomorrow is more of a travel day again with stops at Luxembourg American Cemetery, Lutremange and the museum at Bastogne. We’ll finish up at Spa, where we’ll end our tour in a couple days. It’s gone fast, and there’s so much more I could say. I’ll try to get it said in the next couple days.

Liberation Tour 2024: Day 8 - Sugar Loaf Hill and environs

 Today was a little easier with only a couple stops on the agenda. First up was Flavigny Bridge near Nancy. One of the gentlemen in our group, Tom Higley, had an uncle who fought here in World War II. The Omaha World Herald correspondent quoted him extensively when writing about this engagement, and he had a copy of the article that was read at the memorial. When we arrived, there was a member of the 35th Division Association pulling weeds. Brigitta said they knew we were coming and wanted to clean up the memorial site before we got there. I guess they were excited that we were there. Some of these places aren't visited by Americans much, it seems. We walked out on the bridge to see the Moselle River and the plaques in the
middle of the bridge, then it was off to Fort St. Vincent.

This fort, also known as Fort Pelissier, was a strategic location for both the French and the Germans in the region. Today it’s an amusement park, but in 1944, when the Americans took it, it was an important capture. Jerry told us that the Americans hid underground and called in strikes on their location to take out the Germans who were on the hills outside. I can't imagine making that call, telling your artillery to bomb you. That took some guts. It worked, though. The Germans were defeated there.

Sugar Loaf Hill was our final stop of the day. Vicki and I were the wreath-laying committee today, which is an honor. The memorial site is at the foot of Sugar Loaf Hill, which is near the village of Agincourt. We weren't able to climb the hill like we could last time I was here, but we were still able to see it and the memorial. It’s a steep hike to the top, so the mayor of Agincourt took Jerry, Dean and Bob by car as far as they could, and then they climbed (literally, I gather) the rest of the way.

The mayor and his staff then provided lunch for us and we got to meet some of them. I was next to the mayor’s daughter, also named Stephanie and spelled the same way, which was fun. They were pleased to have us there and treated us like royalty. When we finally tore ourselves away, we headed back to Nancy for the rest of the day. It was nice to have a little break to get a little rest and relaxation.

Jerry Meyer, right, presents an American flag to the mayor of Agincourt.

This map from 1944 shows the area of Agincourt and Sugar Loaf Hill, which I circled to make it easier to find.

This damaged helmet is part of the collection of artifacts Manu has. Manu was one of the people who joined us for lunch at Agincourt. He lives in a village not too far away.

Manu shows a piece of shrapnel that was caught in the lining of the helmet.

Liberation Tour 2024: Day 7 - a new day

 We left Verdun this morning and headed out into the French countryside. It was a fun day for me, anyway, because the majority of the stops we made were new (hence the post title). We stepped back into World War I to get a sense of where World War II built from.

Our first destination was, perhaps, a bit on the creepy side – the Douaumont Ossuary. An ossuary, for those who don’t know, is a place to store bones. The story of this ossuary dates to the Battle of Verdun, fought on the slopes it overlooks. Because of the chemical warfare (mustard gas and more) used during World War I, this battle was particularly hellacious. Bodies of the soldiers killed were left on the battlefield for a year before anyone could come take care of them. That’s a long time to be outside and unprotected. While thousands of the young men could be identified even then, more could not. Bones were collected and stored in the ossuary. I believe the staff is still working to identify as many people through DNA as they can - even 100 years later. You can see the bones through the lower windows.

The ossuary stands at the top of a hill, on which is the cemetery for the soldiers killed in the battle. Thousands of graves line the hillside, including a section for the Muslim soldiers who were killed. The French brought them from their colonies – Tunisia, Algeria and Morroco.

Just down the road is a section of trench you can walk above and in. As you may remember from high school history, World War I was fought in the trenches. Both sides dug them, both sides lived in them, and both sides died in them. They weren’t very wide; I don’t think two people could walk side by side in them. They wouldn’t have been covered in grass, either, since the landscape had been blown to smithereens by then.

Fort Douaumont was the next stop. The fort has been converted to a museum (but it was closed and we didn’t have time to see it anyway), and its gun emplacements can be reached on foot. Both the French and the Germans used this fort during World War I, and it’s less than two miles from it to the cemetery.

The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery was next on the list. We expected we’d have to sand the graves of the Nebraska National Guardsmen we were there to visit, but Bruce, the cemetery superintendent, had already done that for us. We laid the wreath in the chapel and found all our guys. This cemetery is the resting place of seven Medal of Honor winners. Bruce also told us that three of the four finalists for the Tomb of the Unknowns are buried here.

Lunch was at the War for Peace Center for Education, Arts and Culture. While it sounds like it’s a fancy building with lots of resources, it’s actually one man’s vision. Jean-Paul de Vries told us when he was 18, he was obsessed with war and everything connected to it. When he was 19, he and a couple friends found a trench with three dead Germans in it. They were just his age when they died, and that changed his outlook. His museum includes 300,000 artifacts found within a three-mile radius of his house. I think he’s done a nice job with his displays - it’s a pretty nice museum. He reminded us that, whatever the uniform, if you empty a soldier’s pockets, they all carry the same things.

Then we were off to Montsec, a memorial built on the top of a hill known as Dry Mountain (mont sec). It was absolutely stunning. The memorial itself reminds me of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., but this is bigger. It was built after World War I and sustained damage in World War II. According to a carving on the side, it was repaired in 1948. It overlooks a valley, so it would be a great strategic location. One of the gentlemen in our group, Jim Skinner, told us about his grandfather who was wounded near this location during World War I.

We stopped at the St. Mihiel American Cemetery, from which you could see Montsec off in the distance. One soldier from the NNG lies buried here, and we visited him. We were also able to retire the colors at 4:30 p.m., which is a great honor.

We made it to Nancy and settled into our home away from home for the next three nights. It is nice to have a place where you can take things out of your suitcase and not have to stuff them back in right away. Nancy, of course, delivers a spectacular light show every night during the summer, so some of us waited up for it. Fortunately, tomorrow is a lighter day, so we can recover.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here a week already. By this time next week, we’ll all be back home, back to our regular lives. I know, buzz kill. Still a lot to go, however. Tomorrow/today we’ll be at Flavigny Bridge, Fort St. Vincent, Agincourt and Sugar Loaf Hill.

Liberation Tour 2024: Day 6 - a two-cathedral day

 We were on the move today, leaving Caen and heading east to Verdun.

We stopped for lunch in Amiens and got to go to the cathedral there. That place is impressive and stunning. It’s so big, two of Notre Dame in Paris would fit inside. I could spend hours looking at all the paintings and carvings and stained glass. Alas, we didn’t have that long. One of the draws of Amiens, besides its artwork and size, is its relic. It houses the skull of John the Baptist.

Back on the bus, we headed down the road to Riems, which isn’t pronounced at all like it’s spelled. It has additional letters and sounds more like you’re clearing your throat than like you’re saying a word. Anyway, Riems is home to the Museum of the Surrender, the place where the Germans agreed to surrender to the Allies to end World War II in Europe. The actual room, table and chairs are there. The walls are still covered with the same maps and notes that have stayed intact since 1945. Although this museum could be considered old school, it’s pretty impressive that it hasn’t been torn apart in the last 80 years.

It’s a quiet place but an important one. Being able to see the actual place where such a momentous event occurred makes you stop and think about everything that led to that moment - all the command decisions, orders given, battles fought, buildings destroyed, soldiers killed.

We went across town to the cathedral, another impressive edifice that towers over the surrounding buildings. This cathedral suffered quite a bit during both World Wars I and II. In World War II, someone thought it would be funny to shoot one of the angels that adorn its outside. They shot through both of her wings. This wasn’t the first time this angel had been wounded, according to cathedral-reims.fr. During World War I, she was decapitated during a fire at the cathedral. Her head broke into more than 20 pieces, the ncregister.com said. She was repaired and reinstalled in 1926.

This is a picture I took of Riems Cathedral in 2022.

Tonight we’re in the city of Verdun. This was the site of the Battle of Verdun during World War I. The Germans tried to capture the town several times but failed.More than 305,000 were killed during the 10 months of fighting over the city, according to memorial-verdun.fr.

“Almost three-quarters of the French army fought at Verdun in 1916. It was a Franco-German battle but it also involved colonial forces. The sheer scope and violence of the fighting here made it one of the major battles of the First World War. In fact, in people’s minds, it came to symbolise the Great War, a culmination of battlefield brutality. It summed up every aspect of the Great War and turned Verdun into the most iconic of all places of remembrance,” the website said.

One of the memorials in Verdun lighted up after dark.

After supper, some of us walked around a little bit. Our hotel is on the river Meuse. Across the river, the town is hosting a party tonight. I can hear music. My room has a balcony that overlooks the river. I’ve never had a balcony room, let alone one with a view like this!

The view from my window.

Tomorrow we’ll stop at the Meuse Argonne Cemetery and a few other places as we make our way to Nancy.

I think he needs a haircut. This gargoyle was on the back side of the Cathedral at Riems.