Luxembourg Children Choir

Today my mom and I went shopping. In the central square of the city, we encountered a children choir ^_^

Look at the boy at the very left. He is really into it. Haha, lovely.

Two Cemeteries - Dec 23 2007

There are 14 permanent American WWII cemeteries erected on foreign soil. One of them is located in Luxembourg. The site was first established as a temporary military burial ground for the U.S. 5th Armored Division on 29 December 1944. The Grand Ducal government later on granted it the right of free use in perpetuity without charge or taxation.

I visited the site on the first day I arrive in Luxembourg. It's part of my tour guide job for Mavis and Hazel.

It is the gate to the cemetery.

A memorial stands near the entrance. On the east face of the chapel, engraved:

"1941-1945

IN PROUD REMEMBERANCE OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER SONS AND IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES

THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA"

Under the national flag are the graves, for the young bodies who lost their lives in a foreign country which they probably had never heard of before.

People from different religion fought in the same war and were buried near each other. I believe they shared the same faith when fighting.

Few people know that General Patton is buried in Luxembourg. Here you see his grave. Originally it was among the mass, but then per visitors' request, his grave was singled out and moved to the front. General Patton did not die in the battle, but in a traffic accident in Germany. He died on Dec 21 1945. When I visited there, it was 2 days after the 62nd anniversary, so some fresh flowers were placed by the cross. I wonder who put them there.

The Purple Heart. Why purple?

Not far away locates another cemetery: The German's. It's a bit ironic that they lie so close to each other, neither in their motherland. But the geographic proximity made the contrast between them even sharper.

This is the gate to the cemetery. It's so small that a German may have to bow to enter. Is it just designed like this so that a bow from the German could be expected whenever they enter?

The gravestones are short and grey, made of very ordinary rock, compared to white valor stones for the Americans. Both are cemeteries, but the atmosphere at each were distinct. You feel them even just from the pictures.

Generally, more then one name were carved on a gravestone, which means several German soldiers share the same grave. This is the only one with some flowers by. On an American gravestone, the state where the soldier is from is stated, while on a German one, we can read the birthday and death-day of the soldier. From them, you can tell how old the person lying in under the stone was when he died. Most of them are in their early 20's, some are only 18 or 19.

I don't know why I felt sadder when I was in the German cemetery.

One of my biggest interest when visiting tourist sites is to read the tourist message books.

To my surprise, many of the visitors to the German cemetery are Americans. Even if disregarding their opposite sides, American is much farther away, and there should be fewer travellers from America coming to Luxembourg then from Germany. I guess one of the reasons is that as the winner, Americans feel that they can be more vocal to express their opinion without sounding sour or offensive or defensive?

It was a joy to read through the messages. The above two are by people from the U.S Army. Very true.

This made my first day after arriving in Luxembourg. Good to be able to escape Hong Kong for a while and spend time with my mom. More pictures and travelogues will be posted during my 50 days stay in Europe.