Week 5 - WWII American Cemetery and Memorial

After church we watched a documentary about WWII.  Then we headed to the WWII American Cemetery and Memorial in Luxembourg.  It turns out that the Battle of the Bulge occurred just north of here and into Belgium.  It was really Hitler's last push to try and win the war.

It started in December 1944 and lasted to about March, although most of the fighting was done in January.  The soldiers didn't have proper winter attire and they nearly froze to death.  The Americans were successful in pushing back Hitler's forces.  It was a horrible battle.  About 19,000 Americans died and it ended up being the bloodiest battle of WWII.

The cemetery has 5076 American soldiers.  They also have 22 sets of brothers that rest side by side.  Even General Patton is buried here.  He died in a car crash in Germany after the war and his will said he wanted to be buried with his men.

General Patton

There is one woman buried there.  She also was killed in a car accident.

The monument itself is very big and impressive.  Even more impressive are the perfectly aligned headstones of the soldiers.  They are all white and either are crosses or stars of David.

There are two Americans that live on site and take care of it.  The grass is perfectly manicured around head headstone.  

The people of Luxembourg are VERY grateful for the sacrifices of all the young American boys.  We've already had a couple people thank us on behalf of the people of Luxembourg.  It is nice to be an a pro-American place and very humbling to think of all the poor young men that fought for people they didn't even know.  It is unbelievable that one evil man could inflict so much death and horror across an entire continent.

We live such an easy life and it is in part to those brave young men that fought and died in this area.