Show of Appreciation

Today’s the day we have been planning and looking forward to since November. We have been hearing about the incredible Memorial Day Ceremony at the Netherlands American Cemetery for many years from the members of the 381st Bomb Group Memorial Association. Leonard Spivey, a veteran and friend has been especially informative since he has been involved for a number of years. This year we had hoped to accompany him to The Netherlands for the event. Unfortunately, at age 97, Leonard was unable to make the trip so it fell to Scott, a Board Member of the 381st association to represent the group, a real honor to say the least. Leonard got us in touch with his friend Harry Kennis, here in Holland so that we could make arrangements to represent in his stead.
After a great breakfast at our beautiful B & B outside of Maaschricht we headed into the village to meet Harry for the first time. He had emailed us where to park and told us he would meet us in front of the Train Station wearing his 381st Bomb Group hat.
We were on time, he was there to greet us and his warm smile was all we needed to feel comfortable. He treated us to an amazing walking tour of the village with all of the hidden out of the way special places that only a former Police Officer in the town would know about. What an incredible area with old and ancient (yes they are different) buildings and features that only a native of some advanced age would know or care about. We were captivated for the entire 3 hours. We also enjoyed a cup of Koffee and a pastry that was very similar to cherry pie. I cannot either spell or pronounce their name for it so I will leave it at that.

At noon we headed back to our lodging to get ready for the days main event. The sky had been progressively darkening with some speculation that we were in for thunder storms in the afternoon. We changed clothes into something a bit more appropriate for a somber event and made our way to the Cemetery. This was somewhat hampered by the fact that apparently every weekend they have some form of cycling event here in the Netherlands. I think I read somewhere that there are more bicycles than people here. Somehow I believe it. Finally we told a Police Officer that we were trying to get to the

American Cemetery and he let us right through. Since Scott was one of the Wreath Layers we arrived at 1:30 for the 3 PM start. There were 2 thousand people there ahead of us. We walked up the long driveway from our parking place and could not help but be in awe of the size and beauty of this place whose only purpose is provide sacred ground to honor American Military Men, and 3 Women, who lost their lives fighting for freedom and democracy during WWII. Arriving early we had time to join Harry, get Scott instructions for his small part in the ceremony and to visit the Grave that Harry and his Wife Gerda adopted many years ago. William Johnson was just 22 years old and died on Harry’s Birthday. What is truly amazing is that the Dutch people in this region are so indebted to the Americans for what they did to liberate their country in WWII that all of the 8,301 graves have been adopted by local residents with a waiting list.

In addition all of the 1,722 soldiers on the wall of the missing have also been adopted. The whole time that we were walking the grounds the sky was blackening, lightning was flashing and thunder rolling continually like we had never heard it before. They held the start of the service for 15 minutes while they watched the radar to see if the event would have to be cancelled for the safety of the attendees but the skies opened to the east, the sun came out and the program got under way with only a minor delay. Well, as you can guess, any region that can take such good care of a Cemetery can certainly put on a hell of a Memorial Day Service. Speakers included US Ambassador to the Netherlands, A Representative of the King of The Netherlands and Brigadier General Kate Leahy, US Army. All of whom spoke with reverence about the commitment and sacrifice of those buried here and their families who had to endure a life without them.

The honor guard, band, choir, rifle squad, and boy scouts all contributed to the pageantry and significance of the occasion. With military escorts both US and Dutch, the wreath layers were escorted to the front where they would present their wreath and salute the fallen. The whole Ceremony was capped off with the always tear jerking rendering of Taps and a flyover of Dutch F-16’s who despite the presence of serious weather in the area completed the final tribute of this amazing day. (Please note the afterburner on the highest plane.)

After everything was over we took a few photos, were introduced to some of Leonard’s friends from years past and even were approached by a young man who attended that lives in Germany. He was drawn to Scott by the American Legion hat that he was wearing with Mariposa, CA. on it. He informed us that although he lives in Germany his Sister lives in Coarsegold!!! We spent some time after everyone else left walking among the graves to locate the rest of Leonard’s crew who perished when his plane was shot down leaving him a prisoner of war. Harry had been helping to care for these graves as well on Leonard's behalf.

The ceremony was a wonderful tribute but those moments with the three of us alone among the graves was so much more solemn and touching. So many young lives cut short in a foreign place made us appreciate their sacrifice so much more. Just then, we somehow knew that those who died so long ago appreciated our efforts because as we walked away, the rain that held off so the Ceremony could proceed came on with a vengeance. We got a bit wet on the way back to the car but managed not to get hit by lightning, divine intervention I’m sure.

On top of everything that we had already experienced on this remarkable day, Harry and Gerda had invited us back to their home. We spent an absolutely wonderful evening sharing stories and food with these remarkable people. We could have talked for hours more but it was 10:30 PM by this time we said our reluctant goodbyes.

We both hope that we can come back again.