Memorial Day Service at Ardennes American Cemetery

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)