​We wake to a gray downpour, but as our bus nears Germany and the Rhine Valley, the moisture turns to mist. It’s the last day of the World War 2 Memorial Tour.  David and I were previously in this area on a German River Cruise, and we are glad to revisit some of our favorite places. 

​Following the Rhine River
Driving through the Rhine River Valley we stop often for views. Wide expanses of river are bordered by green hillsides, vineyards, and castle ruins. Last year we traveled this part of the river at night, so seeing the ruins so well is a treat. We see more of these on a leisurely afternoon river cruise, a perfect ending for our trip.

​Remagen Bridge
David’s father often mentioned Remagen Bridge. Visiting it on shore is  interesting. The bridge is gone, but the black structure, looking like an old castle, stands—a reminder of what our troops saw. Cargo ships pass by.
The surprise capture of a bridge across the Rhine on March 7, 1945 was front-page news in American newspapers. The battle for control of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen caused both sides to employ new weapons and tactics. The Germans used virtually every weapon at their disposal to try to destroy the bridge, including infantry and armor, howitzers, mortars, floating mines, mined boats, a railroad gun, and giant super-heavy mortars. To protect the bridge against aircraft, the Americans positioned the largest concentration of anti-aircraft weapons during World War II, leading to "the greatest antiaircraft artillery battles in American history." The German offensive failed.

Rüdesheim
Our last night is in Rudesheim, a favorite stop our previous trip. This time, instead of a short afternoon visit off the boat, we have an entire afternoon and evening at our hotel in the center of the village. The many side alleys lead to restaurants, cafes, and a variety of shopping. We find excellent German products, and buy unique beer steins and a regional Baden-Wuerttemberg flag for home. David and I both have roots in that region. Our ancestors, that of his paternal grandfather and my maternal grandfather, came to America at the same time during the Palatine troubles in the eighteenth century.

​The farewell dinner is bittersweet. We are all ready to return home, but it has been an unforgettable experience. Franz and Gloria, the German immigrant and his spouse from New York are extending their trip to Northern Germany to visit relatives they haven’t seen for years. We wish them well. 

​Reflections
Many of us from the tour wait for the same 11:15 a.m. flight at the Frankfurt airport. Some converse, others quietly look around the terminal, read, talk on the phone or nap. David and I begin discussing what needs to be done when we get home. Re-entry into everyday life is always interesting.

On the flight home, I started thinking about what we learned from this experience. First, that thirty individuals from diverse sections of the United States of different cultures, beliefs and politics can co-exist well over seventeen days given common interests. This was accomplished in a time of severe political disagreement in our country. Our common interest and respect for history was more important.

Most were able to use these experiences to connect with their ancestors in the closest way possible give the distance of time. Also, it was easy for us to be visually overwhelmed by the photos, documentaries, films, museums and architecture of cities little changed since the early and mid-20th century, and many cases, centuries before. All of this speaks to a passion and need for preservation that Europeans appreciate.
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I hope you all can make such a trip in your lifetime, regardless of what heritage or history you are searching for.

​Next time: World War 1
​
Ann Otto writes fiction based on factual as well as oral history. Her debut novel, Yours in a Hurry, about Ohio siblings relocating to California in the 1910’s, is available on-line at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and at locations listed on her website at www.ann-otto.com. Ann’s academic background is in history, English, and behavioral science, and she has published in academic and professional journals.  She enjoys speaking with groups about all things history, writing, and the events, locations, and characters from Yours in a Hurry. She is currently working on her next novel about Ohio’s Appalachia in the 1920’s, and preparing for future works by blogging about a recent World War 2 European tour. She can be reached through the website, or on Facebook @Annottoauthor or www.Goodreads.com. 

​A busy day on the World War 2 Memorial Tour. Mostly bus travel again as we follow bridges around Arnhem, Netherlands, which were involved in Operation Market Garden, a complex series of incidents that few of us knew much about. 

National Liberation Museum
By fall of 1944 the allies decided they needed a quick road to Berlin that didn’t involve mountainous terrain or forests. The 82nd US Airborne Division, 101st, 1st British Airborne, and one Polish Independent Parachute Brigade were involved in Operation Market Garden, which involved a large geographical area, primarily Arnhem, Groesbeek, and Nijmegen.

Our guide at the National Liberation Museum 1944-45 in Grosbeek was eight years old when the town was liberated and remembers the day well—dancing in the streets, jazz records playing, and being introduced to American bubble gum. The museum leads you through the period preceding the war, experiences of the occupation, and liberation and rebuilding after the war.
A sad side note of the museum documents the Allies’ mistake when a misplaced bomb killed hundreds of citizens and ruined the town. The guides eloquently emphasize their loss. Maybe they are disappointed that the story of the Netherlands campaign seems to have been lost in the larger impressions of the war.
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These towns were under Nazi control from 1940 to September 1944. They  hid Jews in their midst and had little food. In the early years the Nazis ran things under lax rules, but their methods changed as the war became increasingly worse for Germany, and the SS took control. 

Netherland Bridges: 
On to Arnhem where a large bridge was involved in Operation Market Garden. The title of the popular film about the incident, A Bridge Too Far,  is from an unconfirmed warning comment attributed to British Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Army, who told Field Marshall Montgomery that they “…may be going a bridge too far," referring to the intention of seizing the Arnhem bridgehead over the Rhine River.

Random Memories
​Food: In Nijmegen, we have a scrumptious lunch on a veranda. The tomato soup is accompanied by a “small apple pancake” the size of a medium pizza.
Along the way…We wonder if the many miniature horses we see in pastures are farm animals or pets. 

​Today we travel from Caen through Belgium to the Netherlands. During the morning drive we watch a documentary 100 Days of Normandie about D-Day and the continuing battle after June 6, 1945 until September when Paris was finally liberated. We’ve been so impressed with the films, lectures and other resources that Image has provided during the trip. Few World War specialty tours are available, and this one is affordable, mostly staying in historical out-of-the-way accommodations that give us the feel of the period we’re visiting.

​Flanders Field
We’re ahead of schedule, so we can make another World War 1 stop at the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial, on the southeast edge of the town of Waregem, Belgium. Poppy flowers began to grow after the burial of the three-hundred fallen soldiers, which led Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write his memorable and apropos poem In Flanders Fields (public domain). A large, moving, print of the poem hangs in the cemetery reception center (below). 

​

​​In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

This was one of our more emotional stops during the trip.
A recent New York Times editorial by Geoffrey Wawro reminds us that nearly a quarter of the American Army draftees in 1918 were foreign born. How ironic that so many died here, on foreign soil, so soon after adopting their new country.

Antwerp
If you like medieval architecture, you will love Antwerp, Belgium and its guild halls. But also look for the ghost of Reubens, Belgian lace, “1,000 brands of beer,” diamonds, and chocolates—hide the purse!

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​During our brief time here, we buy a few gifts, visit the old castle, now a mariner’s museum, and walk the town center with the well-preserved cathedral and guild halls.
 

​We arrive at our hotel in Tiel in the Netherlands. Three nights in a row in a modern hotel…with laundry service and a casino! We do like the historical hotels, but the reprieve from nightly packing and unpacking is welcome.
 
Next time: World War 2: Action in the Netherlands
 
Ann Otto writes fiction based on factual as well as oral history. Her debut novel, Yours in a Hurry, about Ohio siblings relocating to California in the 1910’s, is available on-line at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and at locations listed on her website at www.ann-otto.com. Ann’s academic background is in history, English, and behavioral science, and she has published in academic and professional journals.  She loves speaking with groups about all things history, writing, and the events, locations, and characters from Yours in a Hurry. She is currently working on her next novel about Ohio’s Appalachia in the 1920s and preparing for future works by blogging about a recent World War 2 European tour. She can be reached through the website, on Facebook @Annottoauthor or www.Goodreads.com. ​