A Memorial Day to Remember

This past weekend the USO provided a trip to see some important parts of American History in honor of Memorial Day. The tour started off with a trip to Belgium to see the memorial built to remember the Battle of the Buldge.


The Battle of the Buldge Memorial in Bastogne, Belgium

The Battle of the Buldge is considered one of the major conflicts of WWII, second only to the Normandy beach landings. It was Hitler's last offensive surge of the war. The majority of the fighting took place in Bastogne, Belgium where today a huge Memorial is erected in honor of the American force who fought there. The memorial had engraved in it all the units of the Army that were involved with the fighting, a brief story wrapping up the intense two months, and every state of the US crowning the memorial. Alongside was a museum with several artifacts from the era.


The center of the memorial, the center stone reads "The people of Belgium remember their American Liberators"



The chapel inside the German cemetery

We then went to visit a German cemetery where hundreds of Getrmans laid to rest. The idea was to compare the two types of cemetery's, US and German. Our last stop was at the Luxembourg American cemetery and Memorial, the final resting place of General Patton. He lay at the front of all the other soldiers as if in an eternal formation with him at the lead, just as he wished. We got there as they were closing and got to see the lowering of the flags for the evening on Memorial Day, one I won't forget anytime soon.


The Headstone of General Patton facing all the buried soldiers in the cemetery


The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

Last Days in Japan

The last few months of being in Japan flew by. Luckily I had made a list of everything I wanted to do before I left the country and got to do it. Most importantly was all the places to eat. Steak Salon, Pinnochios, and any of the numerous sushi places I went to and enjoyed for what might be the last time ever.

I played my last softball games in the span of four days. One was a typical Total Force blowout over one of the ships and the last one was the best game I had ever seen us play. Down by 10 runs to Japanese Fire Department we storm back to take the lead only to lose it again, but in the final inning regain the lead and hold on for the victory. What a great way to end my tenure as the right center fielder of Total Force.

And let's not forget the final big fling I took to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. MWR held a trip for the weekend and my friend Naomi and I took the opportunity to go. The weather was beautiful for the drive up there, we went out that night and ate at a great restaurant and walked through the streets of Japan's third largest city. The following day was the rainiest day of the week and was the day wewere slotted to go to the theme park. It was cold, rainy, and cold some more but we made the most of it and had a really great time. Rainy days usually dont attract too many people to the water rides (Jurassic Park) so there was virtually no line. Naomi and I, risking pneumonia for sure, rose the thing three times in a matter of minutes getting soaked to the bone. But it was worth it. After getting back to the hotel we went out again and found the best Italian restaurant (in our opinions) in Japan. A great way to finish off the weekend. On the trip back our bus broke down and we were stranded off a highway for 3 hours before they got it working again. And wouldn't you know it, the weather was nice.


The last couple of days I spent packing up, selling the car, and hanging out with the friends I would hopefully see later down the road. Some as soon as next year. I had to look back on the three years in Japan, "What a ride," I thought. Hopefully I'll have as much fun in Germany as I did here.