1st stop in Luxembourg....

*Picture from the American Battle Monuments Commission

A couple weekends ago we took a day trip to Luxembourg which is only about an 1 1/2 drive from our house. We were able to visit a few places on our list, but not all of them, so we'll need to make another trip.

Our first stop today was at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial which was established on December 29, 1944.

This is not the most interesting of places for kids....or so I thought. My kids really surprised me because I didn't hear one moan, groan, or sigh when we told them that we were going to a cemetery for our first stop. They smiled and said ok with enthusiasm! I don't know why I'm surprised by this, but I guess I was expecting them to be disappointed or something. We gave them a little overview and then we were off to explore.

After walking through the gates, the visitor center is on the left. It was quite strange being in an American cemetery in a foreign country.

American flags blowing in the wind is not a common sight here...in fact, we only see them on the base, however, there is a lot of red, yellow, and black blowing in the wind!

The stone chapel is just inside the gates....

Mosaic on the ceiling inside the chapel....

5,076 US soldiers are buried in this cemetery.

Many of them lost their lives in the "Battle of the Bulge."

The city of Luxembourg was the headquarters for General George S Patton's US Third Army.

General Patton is buried here.

There are actually 24 American burial grounds on foreign soil....this was surprising. Presently there are 124,909 soldiers from WWI, WWII, and the Mexican War buried in these cemeteries.