Here is more on the continuing saga of Angie and her father. This is a newsletter that I received yesterday from my friend Peter who is the webmaster of
http://www.in-honored-glory.info/
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Dear Friends,
I’m proud to present to you the third edition of the In Honored Glory Newsletter, but first of all I like to welcome all new readers of this Newsletter. This third edition of the newsletter will be entirely about Memorial Day 2006 ...
Memorial Day 2006 was even more special to me than it was in the years before. This year was the first time the In Honored Glory website was online. I was going to meet special people who I met through this website ... People like Angie Christian & family, Luc de Wachter & his wife, Régine Villers, her husband Bernard and their little daughter ... It was a short but very special time we had together ...
Angie's father, Gilbert Bush is laid to rest at Margraten. Angie was going to present the AWON wreath at Margraten and she was mighty proud to do so. I met Angie, Roy and Frances. On Wednesday we visited Gilbert and on Thursday the Remember Museum in Thimister-Clermont ...
Besides Angie's visit I was looking forward to the visit of John Doxey's sister Bernadette and her husband Jack Vogt. A few days before Memorial Day I heard that my wife and I had seats at the ceremony, right behind Jack & Bernadette Vogt. I met them on Thursday when they arrived at Henri-Chapelle ... we visited John's final resting place for the first time. We planned to meet on Saturday before the Memorial Day ceremony. I made sure John's grave was decorated with beautiful flowers, in red, white and blue. Together with the American and the Belgian flag from the cemetery, a card and a picture of John it looked as beautiful as it can get.
The weather was playing against us all these days, but about fifteen minutes before the ceremony the rain stopped, a few minutes after the ceremony it started again, but the best was that the ceremony was not disturbed, by the rain and a shield of umbrellas.
The Memorial Day Ceremony, my first, started with the Color Guard and an impressive Fly-over by the 52nd Fighter Wing of the USAF. Jim Begg, president of the American Overseas Memorial Day Association welcomed the next of kin, the veterans and all the other guests. He introduced several speakers amongst them the mayor of Hombourg, the pastor of Hombourg and some Senators from the States ... the speaker who hit home right away however was a different one ... Lieutenant General Edward Hanlon Jr. from the US Marine Corps. I'm not much of a man who enjoys speeches unless they are very good and I can assure you that this was one of the best speeches I have ever heard. This marine hit the nail right on the head, he knew exactly what he was talking about ... I listened to all of them, even to the mayor and the pastor of Hombourg who only spoke French, a language which I don't understand. After the laying of the wreaths, volleys, Taps and Raising the Colors, Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Kapstein USNR read a Jewish prayer in Hebrew ... I must admit that I couldn't quite follow him, especially the part between "Welcome" and "Amen", but it was very special to hear this prayer in Hebrew and at the same time to think of all those men who are resting under a Star of David ...
In spite of this beautiful ceremony and those (sometimes) beautiful speeches, I missed one thing ... a Tribute to those who made this ceremony such a succes ... the men who placed the chairs, the men who planted the flags in terrible rain and wind on Thursday before Memorial Day, the men who trim the lawns all year long, the men who make sure that the next of kin walk into a Memorial Park instead of an ordinairy cemetery ... Also people like Superintendent Mr. David Atkinson, Assistant Superintendent Mr. Michael Coonce and Cemetery Associate Ms. Caroline Oliver were left out of any speech ... Only one Senator succeeded in naming one of them ...
A very special moment for me was the laying of the wreaths. The first piece of music played by the magnificent Band of the Royal Belgian Navy was one that always makes me very emotional, especially at such an occasion, at such a place surrounded by 7.992 men who did not return to their loved ones ... "Abide with me" ...
It's a tradition that after the ceremony the next of kin go the final resting place of their loved one and they are "visited" by the Ambassador of the USA to Belgium, Mr. Tom Korologos, by the President of the AOMDA, Mr. Jim Begg and by the Superintendent of Henri-Chapelle, Mr. David Atkinson. The next of kin, in my case Jack & Bernadette were presented with a plaque signed by President Bush to honor John Doxey. Besides this plaque they were presented with the American and the Belgian flag which decorates all graves during those days ... It's a very special and moving little "ceremony". The biggest surprise and honour came when Bernadette handed the flags to me. I never expected to receive such a wonderful gift, I will cherish those flags forever ...
Just as I thought that my emotional journey was over, my mind went back to the moment just after the ceremony ... Hundreds of chairs were on the terrace ... Jack & Bernadette turned around took the cards with their names on to bring them back home, just to remember. I thought this was a great idea and I did the same ... At that moment I looked at my card I noticed the text on it .... "Peter Heckmanns, In Honored Glory" ... Probably nothing special to anyone else, but the name of my website originated from the soldiers who rest in unknown graves. The text on those graves states ...
HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY
A COMRADE IN ARMS
KNOWN BUT TO GOD
I suddenly realized that on that afternoon for the first time in history there were 96 places in Henri-Chapelle instead of the usual 94, carrying the phrase "In Honored Glory". Only two occupants of those places were fortunate enough to have their names mentioned as well ... My wife was one of them, I was the other ...
I wish you and your loved ones all the best ...
Peter.
Peter Heckmanns
Webmaster In Honored Glory website
Kerkrade, The Netherlands
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"