Belgians, The Battle & The Wisdom of a Son
A living ad hoc memorial to the men of Easy Company, Bois Jacques, Ardenne Forest, Belgium. Image courtesy the author.
It all started with an airline companion certificate that needed to be used before then end of this year. I asked my spouse, Jill, where she would like to go. Her (wise) response was, why don't you ask your son? So, I did., As a result, last week I was on a trip to Europe with my son, Lorin Dawson. It was the first time we had ever really done anything alone and together, in both our recollections.
The trip, however, had more depth than a father / son buddy trip through the French and Belgian countryside. When I asked him where he wanted to go, he said Normandy and Bastogne. His reasoning was simple. He knew I was a WWII buff, and he wanted to see the sites associated with D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge and hear my perspectives on the war. His thoughts were that I was the next generation after the Great Generation and was closer to the stories when they were still visceral and being shared by those who experienced them. Whereas he was yet an additional generation removed.
Image courtesy of adventureswithsheila.com.
We visited Omaha Beach and the memorial museum there. We walked with reverence through the cemetery and pondered the statue, "The Spirit of American Youth." We then drove to the public part of Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer and walked the beach together in silence. Lorin took a moment by himself to ponder the Omaha Beach Memorial Monument SIGNAL and the Les Braves sculpture. I chose not to take any pictures of him as he considered what occurred there 80 years ago this last June.
Omaha Beach SIGNAL Monument. Image courtesy of adayawaytravel.wordpress.com.
Omaha Beach Les Braves Monument. Image courtesy of flaglerlive.com.
From there we visited Le Pointe du Hoc - roughly translated as the bluff of assurance, given its difficulty to be breached and its commanding view of the English Channel and the beaches below - and thought of the massive sacrifice (of 225 Army Rangers assigned to climb the bluff and silence the six German 155mm guns trained on Omaha Beach, only 90 survived) to assist the landing of troops in the early phases of Operation Overlord; D-Day.
Le Pointe du Hoc U.S. Army Ranger Memorial. Image courtesy of gbg-international.blogspot.com.
Our last stop in Normandy was Sainte-Mère-Église, to see the chapel where 82nd Airborne paratrooper John Steele's parachute caught on a pinnacle of the chapel, where he hung for two hours, playing dead, until he was captured. There is a depiction of the event in stained glass on the north end of the church.
Chapel at Sainte-Mère-Église. Note the parachute and uniformed mannequin caught on the pinnacle above. Image courtesy of the author.
After a long drive through the French countryside, we arrived in Esch-sur-Sûre, Luxembourg where we would stay due to its proximity to Bastogne. We visited the Battle of Bastogne Museum and Memorial. While we were there, construction and experiential marketing crews were readying the memorial for a very big celebration, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Bastogne. It seemed a bit much for what I deemed to be something that was somewhat sacred. But I kept my thoughts to myself.
Battle of Bastogne Memorial in preparation for the 80th Anniversary Celebration of the Battle of Bastogne. Image courtesy of the author.
Then we left and drove to Bois Jacques (Jack Wood) of the Ardenne Forest preserved in memoriam of Easy Company, 506th of the 101st. We actually walked the line they had defended 80 years ago, and I felt deeply moved by the conditions in which this small fighting force defended the rise above the village Foy, held by the advancing Germans. We were there, 80 years later, to the day, of that terrible confrontation, albeit with weather much more friendly than was the case then.
Easy Company Memorial at Bois Jacques, the area of the Ardenne defended by Easy. Image courtesy of the Author.
Easy Company foxholes at Bois Jacques of the Ardenne, overlooking Foy, Belgium. Image courtesy of the Author.
Presently, Belgian re-enactors showed up, some costumed as Easy Company and others as the German antagonists. There was raucous laughter and lots of light conversation and I mentioned to Lorin that I was a bit irritated by the lack of reverence being shown at such a hallowed location, and at the construction at the memorial earlier in the day.
It was then that I was schooled by the wisdom of a young man with a great deal of world experience and as such, an understanding of different world views. He said, "Dad, you have to remember, that for the Belgians (and French, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians), this is for them, a celebration of liberation, in which they still find joy and cause to celebrate in. For us (U.S. citizens), it is a place of mourning."
I was stunned by the narrowness of my view and the wisdom of my son. Then, I immediately thought of the first two Shingo Guiding Principles, Respect Every Individual and Lead With Humility and realized as much as I loved these two foundational principles, I still had much to learn about them and about myself.
Lorin snapping a selfie and mocking the Old Man at the same time at the entrance of Bois Jacque of the Ardenne. Image courtesy of The Monkey Boy (a term of endearment in our family, with a story behind it).
In truth, I'll not soon forget that buddy trip with my son, Lorin (of whom I am immensely proud). But I will never forget the simple lesson he taught me about myself and my own unconscious biases.
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Originally published at https://www.legup.solutions on 18 DEC 2024.