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.