I just returned from a commemoration at the Rusthof General Cemetary in Amersfoort/Leusden, the cemetary where also 800 Russian and over 400 Allied and Dutch warcasualteis are buried.

Rusthof Cemetary

In Holland, on May the 4th, it's remembrance day. The flags are lowered and at eight o'clock sharp, the nation goes quiet for two minutes. After those two minutes, a single trumpet plays the "Last Post". That all happened almost exactly one hour ago.

It's the first time I was at the Rusthof cemetary on May the 4th. I recently adopted a wargrave there (Air Gunner Sgt. J. Wilson, RAF 158 sqdn) and brought some flowers for him.

Fortunally, I wasn't the only one. To my amazement, several hundred of Dutch civilians came with flowers to Rusthof. Not only elder people, but also lots of young families with children. I myself, am often a bit cynical when people talk about 'how to commemorate' because I didn't have much faith in my own generation. But I am glad to say that I might be totally wrong. We, the younger generation, have grown up with "May the fourth". It has become a part of our life, although we never experienced war. I am so glad that so many people turned up... my cynism is totally gone. We obviously WANT to commemorate... now and in the future.

Here are some pics of the cemetary, the gravestone of Sgt. Wilson and the flowers with homemade card I brought with me tonight.











To 'kill' some time to eight o'clock... I photographed some of the epitaphs. Almost every stone has a different one. Some are very standard, others are very personal. Always impressive.








And finally some photo's of the Dutch wargraves, the Russian cemetary and the ceremony (notice the FIFTEEN flags... fifteen, because on Rusthof warcasualties from 15 different nations are burried).

The epitaphs are my favorite! Thanks for sharing!

Bart, not for the first time: good on you.

And my thanks to the Nederlanders for remembering. It is most appreciated.

Bart,

Thank you for the pics and info. What a beautiful site to remember these fallen heroes, no matter what nation they come from.

Thank you.

Those are nice pictures Bart. It shows that May 4th still lives here in Holland.

Here in my hometown, Deventer, the remembrance had the topic: Let children remember. There was a tour that passed several monuments, flowers were given to the children and they could lay it by the monument that they choose and they learned the story behind the monument. At the end we all gathered in front of our Cityhall to be silent for 2 minutes.
My children( 9 & 6 years old) were very impressed by a monument that represents 7 people of the Deventer Resistance being shot by the germans on the day our city was liberated.
I think it is very important to get the new generation involved in the remembrance because we must never forget.

Jo

A similar thing happened in my town. The day it was liberated, the leader of the local resistance group was shot by the germans, right before they fled the city There's still a cross in a wall near the place were it happened. (Every so often I stop by it, and remember the story)

But I wish there would be nation-wide commemorations over here in Belgium too.
It's important to remember...

Apell8,

It's the least we can do..... It's always a special moment. Trains and (a lot of cars) stop. Most of the shops are closed and about 80 % of the Nation is paying their tribute to the ones who gave their life for our freedom. As I said, it's the least we can do.....

Greetings,
Johan

Thanks for sharing this special occasion with us all Bart.
It's very important that we all remember that those are not just "marker"stones,but each
grave has a story of bravery and sacrifice attached to it.God Bless 'em All!
CHRIS UK