Timberwolves Europe 2013, Dutch Remembrance Day, 4 May. Part II.

[Categories: TRAVEL, PHOTOGRAPHY, EUROPE, WWII]

(See previous posts for what this tour is about.) (As always, click on photos to enlarge or play movie.)

Continuing with Saturday’s activity, we leave the Polar Bears reception about 4:30pm and go to ‘t Sandt (The Sand), the community center of Standaarbuiten. We have yet another great dinner prepared and served by the Dutch people.

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After dinner we go to the local church for a Dutch Remembrance Day service.

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There are numerous remembrance messages and a small classical orchestra plays some fine chorales. Toine Vermunt speaks of “Freedom You Agree”, in that we all ‘agree’ on the amount of freedom we accept. The high-ceilinged church is chillingly cold and somewhat dim, perhaps a reminder of the cold, wet, autumn night fighting in which many of our Timberwolves fought and some perished in this very area. After the service we silently file out and form a long line to walk back to the community center for the wreath-laying at the 104th Inf. Div. memorial.

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Our close Dutch friend Esther reads a fine poem SHE wrote to honor the Timberwolves. The last lines:

“today when past meets present
in freedom we look ahead
as long as we remember
as long as we never forget”

The community center is on one of many Timberwolf Streets in this part of Holland:

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Coffee, tea, or cookies rounds out the evening as we view photos about the WWII Timberwolves. Remember the church? Now and then:

Either allies or enemy could use church steeples for forward artillery observers or snipers. This wasn’t a Hollywood movie.

I already can’t count the number of times in the last few days I’ve heard “lest we forget”, “honor our freedom”, and “appreciate all you did for us”.

The sampling of photos and movies here can hardly do justice to the thoughts and memories. I hope you get the idea.

Finally the road leads us ‘home’, back to our hotel: