juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

About six miles from Maastricht, in the
Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall/winter of 1944.

Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" American soldier in a place of honor in their home.
Annually, on "Liberation Day," memorial services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio," a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece
of the memorial concert ever since.

This year the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands). This beautiful concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi.

http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm

After you watch the above web site, check out the below.
Our European arrogance, in alphabetical order
1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France... A total of 2289
2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium... A total of 5329
3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France... A total of 4410
4. Brookwood, England - American Cemetery... A total of 468
5. Cambridge, England... A total of 3812
6. Epinal, France - American Cemetery... A total of 5525
7. Flanders Field, Belgium... A total of 368
8. Florence, Italy... A total of 4402
9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium... A total of 7992
10. Lorraine , France... A total of 10,489
11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg... A total of 5076
12. Meuse-Argonne... A total of 14,246
13. Netherlands, Netherlands... A total of 8301
14. Normandy, France... A total of 9387
15. Oise-Aisne, France... A total of 6012
16. Rhone, France... A total of 861
17. Sicily, Italy... A total of 7861
18. Somme, France... A total of 1844
19. St. Mihiel, France... A total of 4153
20. Suresnes, France... A total of 1541

Remind those of our sacrifice and don't confuse arrogance with leadership.

The count is 104,366 dead, brave Americans.

And we have to watch an American elected leader who apologizes to Europe and the Middle East that our country is "arrogant"!

HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL.... AFTER DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?
WE DON'T ASK FOR PRAISE...BUT WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!

And we still give money to these countries every year?

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

We might remember that without the aid of the French during our Revolutionary War Queen Elizabeth II might grace our currency and stamps.... Jus' sayin'....

RichieC Loc: Adirondacks

I can't comprehend your train of thought here.

Read John Adams by David McCullough, you'll see that the French did not think it necessary to include America at the post war negotiation table in Paris. The French fully expected us to coordinate our diplomatic strategy with them... but we didn't trust their additions to the negotiations so we had to wrangle an independent course directly with England...

You can thank John Adams and Benjamin Franklin and John Jay for how things turned out, like everything in that war- seems that it was achieved by a turn of luck and talent and timing. England saw us as a valuable future trading power, and didn't want the French involved, they were very generous in the treaty. The French involvement in our Revolution was a continuation of their hostilities between themselves and England that had raged for ever.. ... they were using us to bloody their long time enemies nose, and then wanted to negotiate our aspirations right off the table to their own ends. - They were not very altruistic.

We certainty benefited from it, in fact ultimately the whole free-world has.... as we have re-payed that dept several times now, or they may have very well have Kaiser Wilhelm or Hitlers image on their currency and stamps...just sayin...

Now explain how any of this has to do with the people of Holland's touching and humbling appreciation of our soldiers self-less sacrifice?

Bangee5 Loc: Louisiana

IN FLANDERS FIELDS POEM
WAR MEMORIAL POEM
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

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

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

I in no way was denigrating Holland's appreciation of our soldiers. My point was that without France's distraction, if you will, of the British they might have dev**ed more resources to quelling those upstart colonials. As you mention Adams, Franklin, and Jay were invaluable in helping the treaty. And there was a great deal of luck involved. As far as our foreign aid to Europe the Marshall plan, in addition to being wonderful "charity" certainly helped bring Europe into our sphere of influence and perhaps forestalled the sort of economic chaos which ensued in Germany, for example, after WWI. We all know what that chaos led to....