We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
Attributed to George Orwell
When I was 19 years old and living in West Germany with a missions team, we visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial near Luxembourg City. I remember standing on one of the wide walkways gazing at 50 acres of white headstones, stunned. Radiating out from the memorial are 5,073 graves of American soldiers whose lives were sacrificed in World War II, most at the Battle of the Bulge and the advance to the Rhine. Among those at rest are 22 sets of brothers, and 101 unknowns. Row after row after row of the fallen. And I wept.
I think today of American soldiers in foreign graves, approximately 130,000 of them, most of them young men, who are, in addition to untold numbers of their brothers and sisters buried here, the cost of freedom. And I think of the love of liberty that still inspires young men and women to take up arms and stand on the wall. We owe them so much.
In 1998, on her junior high school trip to Washington D.C., our daughter, Jessica, received a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol. It has since flown outside our front door every Memorial Day, July 4th, Veterans Day, and since 2001, September 11th. This is the first Memorial Day weekend in our new home and yesterday morning my husband got his drill, attached the holder, and placed the flag where it belongs.
We were on the lake today, sunblocked, lunch in the coolers, floaties ready to inflate, grandkids primed. The lake has opened for the first time since shelter-in-place and the line to the launch ramp was the longest we’ve ever seen in our many years of boating. People were patient, helpful, so many smiles. At one point after we launched, a boat full of young people sped past, waving, American flag flying. I thought about that boat throughout the rest of our wonderful afternoon. How we enjoy the precious fruits of liberty and such happinesses in large part because of those acres of American graves here and around the world.
This day, arriving during a prolonged period of stressful isolation and uncertainty, reminds us of just how thankful we surely must be, regardless of our circumstances, for the blessings of this magnificent country – and the monumental sacrifices that ensured them.
Beautiful!
Thank you, Linda. So much to remember and be thankful for.
This is a lovely piece Debra. Years ago, when in London England, I visited the Winchester Cathedral – it is like a crypt – can’t take a step without standing on a royal tomb in the floor or lean a hand against a wall. Off to itself, behind the grander monuments, was a simple rock slab with a plaque above it in remembrance of Americans in WW11. It was a ‘tomb of the unknown soldiers.’ It was an emotional moment. It was also over 30 years ago, but I still recall that moment and feel a gratitude to the English people for their thoughtfulness – our humble foot soldiers among centuries of royalty. Fitting.
On a lighter note, the photo of your flag flying also gives me a glimpse of how beautiful your new home is. At last, at last. Janis
Thank you for sharing this memory, Janis. These reminders of American sacrifice do embed deeply in our memories.