American Military Cemetery, Cambridge, UK
We had been staying with an old school friend in Cambridge and had spent some time discussing how important it is that sacrifices made by servicemen in armed conflict should never be forgotten. We shared our children's experiences and the impact these had made on them (his son had made a visit to at least one French WW1 cemetery and two of our children had been to Auschwitz when they were on school trips abroad).
My husband (The Scotsman) and I have not had opportunities to visit overseas sites yet, so our friend suggested that we paid a visit to the American Military Cemetery on our way home. The memorials stretch almost as far as the eye can see and this is by no means one of the largest military cemeteries. Every single one of the men commemorated was someone's son and some were husbands and fathers too. Given that my own two sons were of a similar age to many of them, the impact of reflecting on the sheer numbers, their circumstances and thinking about the effect on their remaining family was simply overwhelming.
The salty tears of gratitude soon mixed with the pouring rain, on my face.
The salty tears of gratitude soon mixed with the pouring rain, on my face.
We owe them a great debt
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