My family went to the Memorial Day Service yesterday at Ardennes American Cemetery, and were so humbled. My husband is one of the adult leaders of the Boy Scouts here and they participated in the laying of the wreaths, so he was busy at this service and another later in the day.
Driving up to the cemetery, you see an amazing, huge cube with an eagle done in relief style jutting out of the front. The names of the missing are on slabs around the main monument. Behind the monument are the graves of over 5,000 American servicemen. I have never been to Arlington, but I have seen photos and footage, but I was in no way prepared for the impressive, saddening expanse of white crosses. Every one of them had an American and a Belgian flag in front of it. Volunteers of all ages helped prepare the graves for the memorial service.
At the time of WWII, Belgium was not allowed to have an official army, but there were many resistance fighters. Since the war, they have been recognized as fighters for the war effort. Many of the survivors from the area were at the service with their Belgian flags flying, wearing their berets and pins and jackets with patches. My husband and I think that the flags were decorated differently to show the different Veteran's groups they represented. Just seeing all the courageous men and thinking of how young they must have been and how lucky they are to have been able to live through the war to be at the cemetery for this service brought tears to my eyes. There were at least 50 men there to show their respect. At the second service that my husband attended, he said there were at least 300 Belgian Veterans there.
There were many speakers, both Belgian and American, including the Ambassador to Belgium and the King's Representative. The couple that my husband was with for the second service said that they've lived all over Europe and that the relationship that the Belgians and Americans have from the wars is really something special to behold. They said that the other European countries don't thank the Americans for their part in the war. My husband and I don't have anything to judge it by, but we both so impressed with the amount of non-Americans at the services. The vast majority of the people at the services at these American Cemeteries were not Americans.
The A-10s from Spangdahlem AFB flew over in the Missing Man formation. They had at least 10 beautiful wreaths that were displayed and the speakers were pretty good. They played a version of Taps that I hadn't heard before that used the whole band. It was easier for me to listen to than just the horn version. Or worse, the horn version with the echo. I was expecting the ugly cry, but the use of the band made the song less haunting and heart wrenching. It was just a beautiful service.
I already understand, from a spouse's perspective, what our service members sacrifice, even during times of war. But our wars going on today are different. I can have a good pity party that my spouse will be deployed for a year or 15 months at a time, but at least we can see the end. We had communication that was easy and pretty consistent. Warfare is completely different today, not less or more difficult and dangerous, but different. The service members and their families had no idea where they were going, what they were going to be seeing or doing, with no consistent communication opportunities and often no end in sight. The sacrifices seem, more, to me, somehow. Being able to attend this Memorial Service, and hopefully more in the future, helps me see the respect and appreciation that one generation can have for another, that one culture can have for another. That the respect and appreciation of all those sacrifices that those who volunteer their lives for this military career do not go unnoticed. (not that recognition is what they are going for)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Memorial Services
Memorial Day is coming in the US and in Belgium, they get a jump start on it. Services started today and will run through Monday. There are 20 American cemeteries in Europe from the wars, and 3 are in Belgium, including Flanders Field.
Belgium does a lot to remember the servicemen that died here in WWI and WWII. I'm very excited to see the service tomorrow at Ardennes, but I know it will be emotional. I've lived around military bases in America for the past 7 years and they do have special Memorial services, but I have a feeling that this is on another level. The war was right here at their doorsteps. Just 2 miles from our house, there's a crash site memorial from WWII, it's not big, just a little plaque, but there are flowers and flags on it.
As a military spouse, it warms me to see how that the men that fought and died here are remembered and honored so well. You can't help but think that many of the young spouses and parents of the servicemen never had an opportunity to see their headstone. Getting to Europe at that time was only for the rich, they never could have afforded it.
We are very lucky that we will be able to go and attend a Memorial service for them. It's what I would hope someone would have done for my hero if we were in that era.
Ardennes American Cemetery
Belgium does a lot to remember the servicemen that died here in WWI and WWII. I'm very excited to see the service tomorrow at Ardennes, but I know it will be emotional. I've lived around military bases in America for the past 7 years and they do have special Memorial services, but I have a feeling that this is on another level. The war was right here at their doorsteps. Just 2 miles from our house, there's a crash site memorial from WWII, it's not big, just a little plaque, but there are flowers and flags on it.
As a military spouse, it warms me to see how that the men that fought and died here are remembered and honored so well. You can't help but think that many of the young spouses and parents of the servicemen never had an opportunity to see their headstone. Getting to Europe at that time was only for the rich, they never could have afforded it.
We are very lucky that we will be able to go and attend a Memorial service for them. It's what I would hope someone would have done for my hero if we were in that era.
Ardennes American Cemetery
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Oostende Kite Festival 2012
The sun was shining this morning, the first time in a long time, so my son and I decided to check out the Oostende Kite Festival. It was recommended on SHAPE Families Facebook page, and I am, again, so thankful for that page. What a great time!
Oostende is about a 2 hour drive for us, maybe a bit more, and since spring means road construction, we decided to take the train. We drive for 15 minutes, tops, to our favorite little train station in Soignes and catch it there. From Soignes, we went up to Brussels and then switch trains. It's very simple and easy to understand, as long as you know where your final destination is. In this case, Oostende was the final destination, so it is easy to find on the departure screen.
Our trains were very nice today, it made me look, more than once, if we were on a first class car instead of second class. The bathrooms were even clean! Clean bathrooms on public transportation isn't always a given, if you can imagine.
The total trip today was 2:38, and I didn't have to worry about taking a wrong turn, getting behind an accident, road construction, finding parking, paying for parking OR finding my parking spot when we were done.
The first order of business for us today was to get some food, specifically, ice cream. I convinced my son that he had to wait to get some until we could see the kites. It worked, and after our 1/2 mile trek to the right part of the beach, he had his ice cream. He was perfectly happy sitting on a bench, eating his ice cream and watching the kites. The North Sea didn't seem to impress him as much as I thought, he didn't even want to get close to the water.
The kites were really quite spectacular. There were some huge kites, bigger than I could have imagined. We were able to catch the stunt demo with some of the smaller kites, smaller meaning about 8 foot across. The stunts were choreographed to popular music and could possible be compared to watching the Blue Angels of kites.
We walked up and down the beach looking at all the kites and displays. The only complaint I have is that there was only one vendor tent open today. I was ready to drop some money on a cool kite or a yard ornament, but only one vendor and they didn't have anything I couldn't walk away from.
Oostende was also having a Family Day Festival, so we got to listen to some live music and play in a variety of bouncy castles, airplanes and oceans. There was the prerequisite creepy puppet/comic show for children, where the adults just babble in a made up "language." The kids here love it and my son just stands back and watches with a freaked out/puzzled look on his face while the other kids laugh hysterically and chase the actors while they try to escape. Of course, there was a beer tent, it was a family day after all.
Other than my son sneaking away from me out one end of the airplane and missing for about 10 minutes, it was a beautiful day. I'm so glad we made the train trip to the coast to see the gorgeous kites.
Oostende Kites
Oostende is about a 2 hour drive for us, maybe a bit more, and since spring means road construction, we decided to take the train. We drive for 15 minutes, tops, to our favorite little train station in Soignes and catch it there. From Soignes, we went up to Brussels and then switch trains. It's very simple and easy to understand, as long as you know where your final destination is. In this case, Oostende was the final destination, so it is easy to find on the departure screen.
Our trains were very nice today, it made me look, more than once, if we were on a first class car instead of second class. The bathrooms were even clean! Clean bathrooms on public transportation isn't always a given, if you can imagine.
The total trip today was 2:38, and I didn't have to worry about taking a wrong turn, getting behind an accident, road construction, finding parking, paying for parking OR finding my parking spot when we were done.
The first order of business for us today was to get some food, specifically, ice cream. I convinced my son that he had to wait to get some until we could see the kites. It worked, and after our 1/2 mile trek to the right part of the beach, he had his ice cream. He was perfectly happy sitting on a bench, eating his ice cream and watching the kites. The North Sea didn't seem to impress him as much as I thought, he didn't even want to get close to the water.
The kites were really quite spectacular. There were some huge kites, bigger than I could have imagined. We were able to catch the stunt demo with some of the smaller kites, smaller meaning about 8 foot across. The stunts were choreographed to popular music and could possible be compared to watching the Blue Angels of kites.
We walked up and down the beach looking at all the kites and displays. The only complaint I have is that there was only one vendor tent open today. I was ready to drop some money on a cool kite or a yard ornament, but only one vendor and they didn't have anything I couldn't walk away from.
Oostende was also having a Family Day Festival, so we got to listen to some live music and play in a variety of bouncy castles, airplanes and oceans. There was the prerequisite creepy puppet/comic show for children, where the adults just babble in a made up "language." The kids here love it and my son just stands back and watches with a freaked out/puzzled look on his face while the other kids laugh hysterically and chase the actors while they try to escape. Of course, there was a beer tent, it was a family day after all.
Other than my son sneaking away from me out one end of the airplane and missing for about 10 minutes, it was a beautiful day. I'm so glad we made the train trip to the coast to see the gorgeous kites.
Oostende Kites
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