Rememberence Day 2009 in Luxembourg

Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

photo by John Reyment, Reyment Photographics

11th November 2009, a very special day in Luxembourg for me and my family.  Being Rememberence Day, we went to the service at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial.  Totalling 50.5 acres, the cemetery is located in a beautiful wooded area.

We were greeted by a foggy atmosphere which stubbornly refused to lift.  Inspecting the headstones revealed just how young and courageous these soldiers who gave their all were.  Row after row, lives cut short.  How different would our world be if these people had lived a full life? 

A wreath laying ceremony was followed by a ceremony at the grave site of General George S. Patton of the U.S. Third Army.  The cemetery was created on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the U.S. Third Army while Allied Forces were stemming the enemy's desperate Ardennes Offensive, one of the critical battles of World War II. The city of Luxembourg served as headquarters for General Patton.

We must have looked like foreigners as we were approached by a reporter from France and asked in French why we were at the service today.  We explained (in our best French!) that as Australians, we like to pay our respects to the fallen and attending a service like this on this day is important.  Conversation soon progressed to the rest of our travels and the next day, we found an article in the paper about our story.