Time with My Dad

Last week, from August 10-12, my dad and I took a trip to Bastogne, Belgium to go check out some World War II sites that he wanted to check out. Originally, I was pretty excited to go with my dad on a trip and to go check out some historic sites, especially with him as he knows a lot of the history that has to do with WWII. To be honest, I was beyond blessed, words cannot describe how thankful I was to be able to do this trip with my Dad. We had such a great time together on these 3 days in Belgium.
For any of you have seen The Band of Brothers movie series, you should recognize the name of the city of Bastogne. For those of you who have not seen this movie series, I would encourage you to get it and watch it. To see what these men (and many others) did for our freedom and the freedom of many countries, was absolutely amazing.

My Dad & I with our rental car - 2009 Mini Cooper!

The Big Red One Monument - in Henri-Chapelle, Belgium

On our way to Bastogne, we stopped in a little village called Henri-Chapelle to check out an American Cemetery. As I began to walk through this cemetery, my heart began to get overwhelmed with thanksgiving, gratitude, and amazement to think of all of these soldiers that offered up their lives for our freedom.

There are right around 8,000 soldiers buried in the Henri-Chapelle Cemetery

Fox Holes from 65 years ago

My dad in a fox hole

The Ardennes Forest - this is where the "Battle of the Bulge" was fought

Band of Brothers Monument - Dedicated by Tom Hanks

This is a little memorial that was made of General McAuliffe. He had the most famous single word answer in all of WWII. When the entire area of Bastogne was surrounded by the German Army. The military leaders of the German Army sent an envoy into Bastogne and offered the American Army to surrender. And his one word answer to that envoy was, "NUTS!"

The Mardasson Monument at Bastogne, Belgium

My Dad at the edge of the forest where "the Band of Brothers" fought in the Battle of the Bulge

Downtown Bastogne, Belgium

Entrance to a German Cemetery outside of Foy, Belgium

Alex Penkala Jr. is one of the Band of Brothers that was buried in Luxembourg

My Dad in front of General Patton's graveyard

Out of all of the locations that we went to, I would have to say that going into the Ardennes Forest and finding the exact foxholes that the soldiers fought out of around 65 years ago was absolutely amazing. For those of you who have seen the Band of Brothers can probably remember the name, Buck Compton. Well, Buck Compton, was actually my grandfather's best friend. There is a lot of history behind all of that, but to actually be in the same area where Buck Compton fought and was amazing. There is so much information that I could continue to share with you about this trip, but I want to just end it with two things. First of all, I want to thank my dad once again for everything! I had a blast! I will never forget our time together. Secondly, I want to end it with a quote from General Eisenhower that is mounted in the Luxembourg American Cemetery.

ALL WHO SHALL HEREAFTER LIVE IN FREEDOM
WILL BE HERE REMINDED THAT TO THESE MEN
AND THEIR COMRADES WE OWE A DEBT TO
BE PAID WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR SACRIFICE AND
WITH THE HIGH RESOLVE THAT
THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE ETERNALLY.