Veteran's Day at Luxembourg Cemetery

Normally we use a long weekend to do a longer escape. But, since I just got back from the states and we had big plans for Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to lay low for Veteran's Day. This year, we went to the Luxembourg Military Cemetery for their Veteran's Day memorial service. There are many American military cemeteries across Europe (you can see a full list here), but Luxembourg closest to us. We saw the memorial service at the American Military Cemetery at Normandy on Memorial Day (which was so moving), and we thought it was time we paid our respects for Veteran's Day as well.

The parking lot at the cemetery is small - it can hold may 40 cars, which is a lot... but on this day the lot was overflowing, and people had parked on both sides of the road. We had a good ten minute walk from our car to the cemetery. The morning of the memorial was cold, windy, and there was a rain/snow mix falling. It seems appropriate, in a way, to have to stand through bad weather conditions and remind yourself what soldiers of the past have had to live through day in and day out. Weather was only one thing they faced.

I was surprised by how many people were there. Many Americans were there, but also people from Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. There were a few men there who looked to be the right age of someone who could have fought in World War II... but I have no way to know. The ceremony was short, only a half hour, but it was moving to see how many people were there to remember the past. The struggles, pain, and loss of others has not been forgotten.

I - like a dope - forgot my camera at home... but I found these photos (and many others which show the beauty of that cold, rainy day) here.