We enjoyed our last full day in the company of friends - touring about Brussels.  Lots of history to see and experience - and our 'tour guides' were quite knowledgeable.

Monument Commemorating Belgium's Independence (from Holland)

Weren't all these people here last nite too?

Up Close...

 Dad and Greg in front of the 'Hollywood' sign...

OK - it was a different sign...

 One navigating, one observing...one snoozing...

My favorite museum....

King Leopold Monument

Tomb of the Unknown and Eternal Flame

 

 

 

 

Our last evening, we gathered with friends to enjoy some fellowship - and another great Belgian meal.

 

 

Saying 'Good-Bye' proved quite difficult... 

A few more photo's to close out this account...

On The Ridge

Some of The Ladies

The Vet with The Troops

Thanks to all who made this trip a reality.  We could never have imagined just how great this trip would be...full of surprises, memories, history, and wonderful new friends who made sure that The Vet was treated like a king (and his son like a prince)...

Au Revoir, Amis

Friday we said "Auf Wiedersehen" to Germany and started back towards Brussels.  On the way we enjoyed the countryside and scenery which then led to the autobahns and bustle of the highways where we made good time.  On the way, we stopped at another American Cemetery and Memorial in the St. Avold region of France.  This is known as the Lorraine American Cemetery and contains the largest number of WWII American military graves in Europe, with more than 10,000 resting here.   Some of these pictures need no captioning...

The Vet visited those from the 194h GIR, and also remembered those from the 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion that was attached to the 194th in The Bulge. 












Our guide located each of the graves, made sure they were clean, and provided sand from Utah Beach to rub into the engraving on the stones so they could be more easily recognized...a nice touch.

As we moved about the cemetery, we were told of the many brothers resting side by side.  We noted several, and among them are those marked by the 3 sets of side by side stones you see in the center of this picture...Sundahl, George A. and John C.,  Doherty, John E. and Joseph C. and Preddy, George E. Jr. and William R.    Makes one think.

 Our Fellow Countrymen

Enduring All And Giving All

That Mankind Might Live In Freedom And In Peace

They Join That Glorious Band of Heroes 

Who Have Gone Before

This map is on the wall of the chapel - a graphic and narrative encapsulation of the last year of WWII in Europe from D-Day 6 June 1944, the Allied forces pushing The Enemy north and east, and ultimately into submission and surrender on 8 May 1945.  

Here's a bit more of a map close-up, from which the areas of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the German border are more visible, and we can see the famed "Bulge" (look for the black) where the Germans pushed into Belgium.

 

 I noticed the car ride was rather quiet for a while after the Memorial visits...rightfully so.



After the Lorraine cemetery, we continued north through Luxembourg and back into Belgium, towards Bastogne, then to the Houmont area one last time.  

We bid adieu to Dead Man's Ridge...

...and to Flamierge.  Still hard to grasp that this tiny enclave in the Belgian countryside was the objective of an entire Division...





Another 90 minutes or so put us  back in Brussels.  We dropped off our bags, rested for 12 minutes, then rejoined Greg and Virginie for some touring of the city by night - walked the Grand Place in the central part of Brussels, snapped a few pics and then enjoyed a great meal together at "T' Kelderke" ('the little cellar") - a cozy little Brussels restaurant.  The food was hot, hearty and delicious, which hit the spot on a chilly evening.  Good call, Greg...

Tomorrow - our last full day in Brussels...stay tuned...

Hello again - here's some Thursday clips.  We made our way from Michelbach - came back around the west side of Stuttgart, then south and west to the berg of Rotenberg in the heart of the Black Forest.  The area was rolling and beautiful - and the forests thick.  We found our way to and arrived in Rotenberg - stopped at the Rathaus (town hall) to pick up some information from Frau Armbruster, who really told us not much, but did sell us a book on Rotenberg.  Plus we got a great picture of the church from her office window...

 The churches surely remain as the foundations of these old towns - and they are often very well preserved.  Here is the church where Dad's father (Johan) was confirmed.  After wandering around a bit trying to find someone (anyone) to whom we could explain (in English and a little broken German) that we just wanted to look inside the church - we found Frau Schmidt, who let us in.

 The inside was quite nice - another beautiful pipe organ - and Frau Schmidt explained many things (apparently in some detail) that we did not quite grasp, but we did enjoy looking at the church, and we think she understood our gratefulness for her hospitality.

We found the old place where Dad's father once lived.  It's still there - but needs some TLC.   The satellite dish was added since grandpa lived there...

Rotenberg seems a cozy little German town - with a 'newer' section and modern homes, a school with a football (OK, soccer) field - and plenty of well-preserved old buildings too.  

We did visit the cemetery to look for familiar names - and found some.  Schumachers, Haberers, Esslingers and lots of other familiar German names. 




Greg found us several places where we enjoyed good views of this small town where John J - Dad - was able to walk in his father's footsteps after many many years...

It's a little chilly on this hill - but it's OK.  John J gives Rotenberg a last look.

John J deemed the trip to Rotenberg a success - 'I've done what I wanted to do...', and with that, we left Rotenberg.

Greg guided us down the road from the mild elevation of Rotenberg, out of the hills, through the tunnels and headed toward Offenberg, then to Strasbourg France and on to the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial near St. Avold...more on that later.

Wednesday March 28th - The  Vet's 87th Birthday - and we visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial.  This is a place of honor for Americans, with 5,000+ military dead at rest.  The Vet will place flowers on the graves of 28 fallen soldiers from his 194th GIR unit, plus another on that of General Patton.  We will also visit the grave and honor 1LT David Chrystall of the 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion.  Lt. Chrystall was among those killed in January 4th, 1945 at Renuamont near Dead Man's Ridge.  (David's nephew - Mr. David Seckler from the US Embassy in Belgium - was in attendance at the dedication ceremonies in Homount on Sunday.)

The Vet honors his fallen comrades and his General.

This was a special birthday surprise for John J.  I took the picture on the left (below) as we concluded our tour and visitation.  A couple minutes later, the superintendent told The Vet "will you and your son come with me and help me lower the flag?", which we were honored to do. Taps and the national anthem were played.  We folded the flag in the traditional manner.  Then, the flag was presented to The Vet on behalf of the United States.  A pretty special way to end the tour. 

It would be hard to beat that....



We did a little picnic lunch at the Cemetery before heading to Germany.  The next couple of days will be for returning to the birthplaces of John J's parents.  First - to Michelbach...

 This is the village where John J's mother - Freda (Frank) Schumacher was born.  We were able to visit the church, and could identify more than a few other buildings - such as the old school - that were on postcards sent between family members in the early 1900's. 

The old school...

The old church still has great pipes!










We spent the night at the Gastehaus Frank (no relation, but the proprietor - Marlene Frank - still left a birthday gift for John J) at a nearby village.  We enjoyed some good German food, and were ready to get some rest...

John J had a great birthday.  More to come tomorrow...stay tuned.

Hello to anyone still following along...sorry for the delay in posting.   I will continue to fill you in on the remaining days of the trip - which was fantastic.

 Tuesday included a visit to the Patton Memorial and to the Battle of the Bulge Museum in Bastogne. 

Jeff...John...George

We had the fortune to meet some of the people responsible for the museum, and owners of the fine collection of artifacts from the war - of which there were many.  Everything from C rations to baseball reference guides for the GI ("...who won the 1939 World Series?") to uniforms, maps, weapons and dioramas - very well done and again, they made Dad feel welcome, remembered and appreciated.  The video playing in the background is the part that got to me.  It included footage of war scenes - civilians under occupation, airplanes and soldiers on the move in the brutal cold - I felt like at any moment I would see Dad trudge by the camera...

That afternoon, we visited the St. Joseph School in Bastogne.  The kids in the class had some good questions.  They wanted to know about things like where Dad was from - what his parents (German immigrants) thought about his going to war, whether he was scared and whether he prayed a lot.  They also wished him a Happy Birthday and sung to him.  Shortly thereafter, the entire school assembled outside - presented The Vet a cool shirt, then proceeded to mob him for handshakes and numerous salutes.

The Vet fields the tough questions from the kids. They wanted answers...

Here's the mob scene at the school - they all seemed to charge at once

Above and to the right - the St. Joseph School in Bastogne, where the kids were learning history including WWII and the Battle of the Bulge.

If you could see the smoke detector, the little red LED would be on...

We spent part of the afternoon touring various villages, hamlets and towns - looking for the place where The Vet pushed General Patton's jeep out of the snow.  We're pretty sure of one thing - it was not in Compogne as the picture was captioned.   On to Houffalize where a German Panther tank still remains on display - and another monument commemorating the liberation of the town.  

To wrap up the evening we had a wonderful meal with good friends, including a birthday cake (for The Vet) with pyrotechnics belching sparks and flames.  (Yes indeed - it set off the smoke detector immediately above it on the ceiling.)  

   

By the way - the Yankees beat the Reds in the '39 Series...

Issel River on the left - farmstead in the distance.

Hi all - here's the second post for Monday.  As a reminder, March 24, 1945 was the day Operation Varsity (the Rhine crossing) was launched.  This was a massive airborne operation by the combined American and British airborne units.  So yesterday, The Vet returned to the spot where - seated in his jeep within a Waco CG4A glider - he was cut loose from the C47 tow plane for what he's loosely summarized as 'anything but gliding' to a spot in 'Landing Zone 'S' (LZ-S).  After grouping with accompanying members of the host 101st ADBF Association and lots of discussion and orientation exercises with much gesturing, the party began to zero in on specific areas and/or landmarks that perhaps John J would recognize as an "it was here" spot.  We started at the intersection of the Issel River and Issel Canal (the canal is still there, but now exists as an underground waterway).  Verdict: "Nope - further that way - try the next bridge.  I think I picked up that Mauser rifle in a foxhole over there, but we landed further that way."

So one more bridge  downstream- a farmstead and the remains of an old bridge (the current road having been relocated another 1/4 mile downstream).  Same verdict: "No - not quite - let's try the next bridge".   The terrain has been changed to accommodate the re-routing of a road - a new bridge across the Issel - but a familiar patch of woods remains, and the aerial photos from 1945 after the operation helped to get the bearings.  This was the spot.  "We landed around here - stopped somewhere over there." ..

The search party. Only 1 of us knew what we were looking for.

There were more memories related, some stories, and a few moments.   A fair amount of time was spend recollecting and discussing what else was happening in the immediate area.  As you can see, LZ-S is still a field, so some - but not a lot - has changed.  It was peaceful and a beautiful day to visit.  John J commented that the welcome was much nicer this time.  We went to the next bridge just to take a look and make sure.  "Nope - the river was straight where we landed."  So, The Vet was satisfied that he had found the area where they landed on March 24th, 1945.   Quite a day indeed.