Still All Quiet on the Western Front

Greetings from a cold, wet Boston.
Apologies for cutting out, but amidst all the junk I hauled all over Europe, I apparently forgot to bring the charger for the UK. Anyway, I'm back in Boston now and trying to get caught up with things so I wanted to close the loop on the site inspection. As I mentioned, Vaquios was amazing. The whole village was destroyed, but underneath the hillside is another virtual city of tunnells, bunkers, etc. The trenches are still in a pretty good state of repair-with small sections restored. Since the trench lines cut through the town itself, many are reinforced with stone or run through old basements, which for me was pretty earie. It was also sort of spooky to see the signs that said that this pile of rubble used to be the city hall, or the church, or whatever. The tunnels are usually closed to the public, but there is an association there that will be able to take our group down into the bowels of the hill.

We then made our way along the Voi Sacree, the cities main supply route during the battle, and into Verdun itself. There is a lot of new construction in the city and aside from lots of monuments, little to reveal that the city was all but destroyed. In the citidel, however, is a great display that talks about the battle. You get onto an electronic cart (like at Fort Simserhof) and are taken through a pretty realistic series of dioramas, etc. that discusses the battle. Fortunately, it is in English. There are mannequins and hologram sorts of things that have actors talking about the defense of the citadel and the town. I generally think most of these sorts of things are a bit hokey, but this one impressed me.

The next day was a full, but rewarding one. We started at the memorial, which has a mindblowing collection of artifacts. I particularly liked the display on the Legion, which talked about Alan Seeger, the American poet that was killed fighting with the Legion. After watching the movie, which was good and actually mentioned the Americans, I had to stop at the bookshopm, which fortunately had very little in English, so I was spared there. Outside the museum we visited the site of a village destroyed during the fighting. Again, it was pretty creepy as you walked down between the two trench lines to see the remains of a village that had stood on the spot for centuries. There are signs marking out what the various buildings were, and a restored church dedicated to "Our Lady of Europe." Then it was on to the ossuary, and the memorial to the hundreds of thousands of dead who have no known grave. This one will really bring it home to you if no other place does. It is not all marble and stone. There are windows through which you can see the bones of the missing. There were so many dead when the battlefield was cleaned, that the remains were placed in the Ossuary and you can see them. When you see all those bones, the losses are not just numbers anymore.

Then we made quick stops at Douamont and Vaux, which both have great displays and text that explains the fighting for the two forts and why they were so important. It was getting pretty late at this point, but we were also able to squeeze in a visit to one of the smaller forts. It is just sitting there in the weeds and if you have a flashlight and a good pair of boots, you can crawl down into the bowels of the fort. I didn't have time to go v ery far on the trip, but am definately planning to ensure adequate time for exploration on the full trip. We finished up the visit to Verdun with stops at the Trench of Bayonets and COlonel Driant's command post. The Bayonet Trench is a unique memorial-sponsored by the Americans by the way-in honor of 40 plus members of the 127th INfantry Regiment who were killed as they were preparing to go over the top. For years, you could still see there bayonets sticking up through the earth. Unfortunately, in the ten years or so since I have been there, the bayonets havew all been taking away by souvineer hunters, but you can still see the tops of some of the rifle barrells and you definately know what is down there. Driant's command post is where Colonel Driant and his Chasseurs Alpine met the first German attack in 1916 and held long enough for the French to organize a defense of the city. I'd read about the stand in Alistair Horne's book, but it was a real thrill to actually stand on the ground.

Verdun was simply amazing and definately a place where I could spend weeks. Most of the sights are close together on a hillside overlooking the city and although the trees have been allowed to grow, all of the trenches are still there and you could walk for days in the trenches without sticking your head above ground. One improvement over my last visit is that there are now a number of hiking trails through the hills and battlesights so you don't need a machete to get around. I know I have said it on past trips, but until you see those bones in the Ossuary, it is impossible to really understand why the French reacted the way they did during World War II. Once you've made a stop at Verdun-which bares the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily shelled city on earth-you definately do.

The site inspection finished up with various American sites. Too often people think that our contribution to victory was a small one, but seeing all the crosses at Belleau and Chateau Thierry disavows that notion pretty quickly. Our stops included Belleau Wood, the site of the epic Marine battle. The trenches are all still there and there are some very helpful text panels. The site of the Lost Battalion, which was immortalized in the HBO movie, Pershing's headquarters and the Belleau and Oisne Aisne U.S. Cemeteries. The cemeteries were really moving, if a bit sad. We were at one where the remains of more than 14,000 American soldiers are buried. It was one of those places where you literally could stand in one corner and see crosses stretch over the horizen. What was so sad, was that during our entire visit-which was more than an hour-we were the only people there. The same thing happened at the other cemeteries and I have to say, that by the end of my time visiting the Doughboy's battlefields, I definately decided that if there are any "forgotten" vets, it is the men who fought in WWI.

One of the most moving grave sites for me was that of Joyce Kilmer, the poet who was killed in 1918. He is important to me because his poem Trees was one of the first I remember learning, and I remember my dad saying it to me when I was younger. I don't know if this is still the case, but when I was going to school I think every kid had to learn the poem.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Rouge Bouquet

Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918)


IN a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet
There is a new-made grave to-day,
Built by never a spade nor pick
Yet covered with earth ten metres thick.
There lie many fighting men, 5
Dead in their youthful prime,
Never to laugh nor love again
Nor taste the Summertime.
For Death came flying through the air
And stopped his flight at the dugout stair, 10
Touched his prey and left them there,
Clay to clay.
He hid their bodies stealthily
In the soil of the land they fought to free
And fled away. 15
Now over the grave abrupt and clear
Three volleys ring;
And perhaps their brave young spirits hear
The bugle sing:
“Go to sleep! 20
Go to sleep!
Slumber well where the shell screamed and fell.
Let your rifles rest on the muddy floor,
You will not need them any more.
Danger’s past; 25
Now at last,
Go to sleep!”

The cemetery superintendant was incredibly nice while we were at the cemetery. He even came by to speak with us on his day off. He was nice enough to give me a copy of my favorite Kilmer poem along with a picture of the poet in uniform. I took the poem and went to the grave and with the rain falling read it out loud. For those of you who don't know it:

Rouge Bouquet

There is on earth no worthier grave
To hold the bodies of the brave
Than this place of pain and pride 30
Where they nobly fought and nobly died.
Never fear but in the skies
Saints and angels stand
Smiling with their holy eyes
On this new-come band. 35
St. Michael’s sword darts through the air
And touches the aureole on his hair
As he sees them stand saluting there,
His stalwart sons;
And Patrick, Brigid, Columkill 40
Rejoice that in veins of warriors still
The Gael’s blood runs.
And up to Heaven’s doorway floats,
From the wood called Rouge Bouquet,
A delicate cloud of buglenotes 45
That softly say:
“Farewell!
Farewell!
Comrades true, born anew, peace to you!
Your souls shall be where the heroes are 50
And your memory shine like the morning-star.
Brave and dear,
Shield us here.
Farewell!”

With the superintendant's help, I was then able to visit the spot where Kilmer was killed by a German sniper after volunteering for a patrol in no man's land.

After paying our respects we visited the spot where Quentin Roosevelt's plane crashed and the memorial in the nearby village in honor of the president's son. I've visited the grave in Normandy many times, but this was my first chance to visit the place where the young Roosevelt actually perished.

As we should, we finished up with a quick stop at the Forrest of Compiegne and the site of the 1918 Armistice and the later surrender of France in 1940. OVerall the site inspection was amazing. It reignited an old and passionate interest in the "War to End War" and definately helped put the World War II sites we visited on our tours into perspective. If anyone ever had an interest in checking out the Western Front, I'd encourage you to consider going next year as it will 2008 will be the 90th Anniversary of the end of the war and there are plans shaping up for a number of special events and ceremonies. I'll be working on a detailed brochure of what we will be seeing on the trip and it should be posted on the site soon.

After getting my two battlefield buddies safely to the airport, I caught a plane to London and checked into the airport hotel for some much needed sleep and reflection. As I had a day to kill, I hopped the train into London and spent the day at the National Army Museum, which I loved, particularly the 18th Century collection. Many of hte paintings I'm used to seeing only in books are on display there-including senior Revolutionary War officers. A great, and very expensive, bookstore and then it was off the pensioners hospital at Chelsea. A great 18th CEntury collection of buildings, the hospital is the home of British service pensioners and in the dining hall are flags that cover the whole history of the British Army; including some American flags taken during the Revolution. It was a wonderful way to finish things up, my only regret was that I missed the victory parade for the WORLD SERIES CHAMPION BOSTON RED SOX, but of course I'll have a chance to do that next year.

For the few of you who read this, thanks for your interest and keep your eyes out for updates to the blog and the web site over the winter.
Chris