While the day comes around every year I find that it takes forever to write anything because once I start digging in I find hours pass as I look through the things I have and the places I have been to see what calls forth the memory this time. These were some of the most evocative words I ever ran across:
It really doesn't take very much to evoke them. Sometimes it's the wind on the water or the leaves rustling and other times it's as simple as seeing something you've seen a dozen times in a different light.
 |
And then there is an item from sippican's cottage.
3 comments:
Today, I think of my Dad's cousin Francis Albert Riley, Lt., USN, who died when ALBACORE was lost in 1944, off Hokkaido.
They are much easier to remember here in Europe. You can't drive very far without passing a military cemetery somewhere.
There are a few American servicemen buried in German cemeteries, who, for whatever reason, were not repatriated. Usually airmen who died in remote areas. But there are no permanent WW1 or WW2 US cemeteries maintained in Germany itself.
If you ever get over here, these are well worth a visit -
• Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France
• Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, France
• Cambridge American Cemetery, England
• Bastogne War Museum and Mardasson Memorial, Belgium
• Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Italy
An interesting grave marker is the one where President Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt was killed. He was originally buried at his crash site after being shot down by German forces with full military honors in tiny village of Chamery, France. His remains were later interred at the Normandy American Cemetery. A fountain was later built in Chamery to commemorate his death.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=249634
Thank you. I read this when you wrote it but never got around to writing a response and it deserves one. For most of my life I could look up from something and feel the beat of time itself. When those moments happened I would 'remember' things. It really can happen with moonlight on the water, a soft sound or especially a smell that is both familiar and unknown. Can feel time rushing by.
I've been to Arlington many times but never found the time to visit those when I was in France and the one spot I might have gone to was difficult to get to and still in the Red Zone as far as I know.
Post a Comment