In addition I also planned to find the Dos Jose's who drove me to Villafarnca after I wondered more than ten miles off the Camino and into their card game. Last but not least I also planned to travel to Germany to have dinner with Michele and Rainer at Restorante Michele in Dortmund.
A lot has happened since I returned last June from the Camino and some of my plans have changed. We are now on an airplane headed to Lisbon by way of London to meet my brother and sister-in-law to board the Silversea's, Silver Cloud for a nine day cruise which ends in Normandy, France where we will participate in the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landing on June 6th. The ship has been charted by The National WWII Museum. There are 280 passengers including a number of famous WWII historians and a number of well known speakers including Tom Brokaw author of The Greatest Generation.
With our new travel plans we will not be going to Spain. Once we leave Normandy we will take a train to Paris, stay for two nights and then head to Germany. I am toying with the idea of a second Camino in May and June next year. Perhaps a repeat of the French route which would give me a chance to find the Dos Jose's or a new route from Lisbon, Portugal to Santiago. I'm sure there will be a discussion with Michele and Rainer about getting together again on the Camino.
Once again the goal is to write this blog for my Grandson's Brayden and Taylor. Hopefully it will give them a sense of what makes me tick. I'm certainly not sure how they will react to the way I think and act and more importantly to what I believe in.
I will start with this .... Memorial Day was just three days ago on May 26th. Unfortunately the purpose of Memorial Day has all but disappeared from it's original objective of honoring those who have served in uniform and most importantly those who gave their lives in defense of our freedom.
How sad it is that we have allowed Memorial Day to turn into primarily another three day weekend where the retailor's could promote their Memorial Day sales in order to make a normally slow Monday into a revenue bonanza. The least the retailor's could do would be to pledge some percentage of all of their Memorial Day sales to go directly to The Wounded Warriors organization. Turning a dead Monday into a profit machine on a day meant to be focused on those who died keeping us free is a sad reminder of how far we as a Nation have so easily forgotten the meaning of Memorial Day.
On a toll-road where I live the digital sign said "Happy Memorial Day". What does that mean? It's not Christmas, Thanksgiving or any number of other "Holidays". It should be a day to remember how fortunate we are and a very sad and difficult day for all of the families and friends of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while wearing the uniform.
I grew up in a small blue collar town, West Haven, Connecticut. Our small town had three young men who made that ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. Their names are on the town's Vietnam War Memorial which lists all of the names of those from our little town who served in Vietnam.
Each of the men who gave their lives are listed on the Memorial with one difference ... each of their name's has with it a Gold Star which acknowledges their sacrifice.
Many of my friends and my brother Bob served in Vietnam. They survived and yet they too made great sacrifices. It changed their lives in ways which cannot be understood by those who did not share the experience. Many continue to struggle with their unthinkable memories. Given the recent scandle involving the poor care being provided to our Veterans we should all be deeply concerned with how those who gave so much are now being cheated out of what should be a quality health care benefit. It's the least we could do.
Does anyone believe that the Congresional health care system is facing the same problems? Not a chance. The members of a Congress would never allow for such to take place. Come to think of it the all wonderful Affordable Care Act (AKA the Obamacare) wasn't even good enough for the members of Congress but it is of course just what the "Doctor" ordered for the rest of us. Keep in mind it may not be the same Doctor you have been seeing for years but of course that's just a small part of what makes Obamacare so special.
I was drafted in 1967. That's a letter I never will forget. "Greetings" ... The President of The United States is calling you to serve. At the end of the letter the tone is a bit different as it so plainly explains that if you fail to report at the designated time and place you will be spending some time in another Goverment facility wearing a very different Goverment issued uniform.
I was lucky. When I completed my training I was sent to Germany. Most of those I trained with were not as lucky and were sent to Vietnam. I learned a great deal in my two years with the Army but most of all I learned to respect those who were not as fortunate as I was. That respect goes to all who have served, not just during the Vietnam War but for all who have served. I look forward to thanking those who I will meet in Normandy who were there 70 years ago on June 6th. There are six men on the ship who served in WWII, one who landed on Omaha beach on that memorable day.
Robin and I shared a table with one of the six veterans who served in WWII, he is now 93 and I can only hope to be as sharp as he is when I'm 73. He told me about his three years at sea in the Merchant Marine delivering all of the critical supplies for the war. He also told me about one convoy which he was a part of in the Mediterranean which started with sixty ships. In less than two nights the German U-Boats sank more than half of the ships in the convoy. He was among the lucky.
There are countless stories about D-Day, many which tell about incredible heroism and great tragedy. Here is one small sample of such a tragedy written by US Army Colonel (Retired) Keith M. Nightingale.
The invasion beaches will be serenaded by bands, banners and pomp and circumstance. Speeches will be made by famous elected and appointed leaders from around the world recounting the events and meanings that took place in Normandy 70 years ago on June 6, 1944. Quickly, the crowds will disappear, the tides will continue and the events forgotten. But the real meaning of Normandy, 6 June 1944, lives on in the obscure rural towns and villages of the Normandy Peninsula and more honestly reflects the true meaning of the event. For these people 6 June 1944, is a moment and spirit to be honored in perpetuity. Such a place is Hemevez.
THE MEANING OF NORMANDY
Hemevez is very small obscure farm town near the more populace city of Picauville. Here in this tiny village sits at the top of a little hill a small church surrounded by a graveyard of several hundred years with monuments to the various wars that the men of Hemevez served and sacrificed. The monuments are close by a farm field and gathered together much like gravestones of the past. On one edge, in an open sunny place, is a unique stone. It is polished black granite with gold letters. Unlike the others, it is not an obelisk but rectangular. There are words and names on it lettered in gold. It truly stands alone among the others and is treated as such.
Across the top are the simple words in French, In Remembrance of the Fallen Soldiers 6 June 1944. Under are seven names. All are members of 507th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division, 6 June 1944.
On that night, 14 soldiers of Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, at 0240 were misdropped over the village of Hemevez and captured by the local German unit.
Seven escaped and seven were lined up and shot at the church. The villagers buried those seven within the grounds and later, as the Allies cleared the area, repatriated those bodies. However, the villagers did not forget them or what they signified and built this monument in their memory. Each year, at the anniversary period, the village gathers in the church yard and remembers those teenagers of long ago and what they meant for their grandparents, for them and their succeeding generations.
On the back of the monument is the statement in French,
In Memory of the 7 American Parachutists of the 82nd Airborne Division
Who were executed in this vicinity of this community 6 June 1944
And we still treat our Memorial Day as part of a three day shopping weekend. Shame on us.
I look forward to visiting the American cemetery to pay my respects to those who never came back.
