A Patriot of France
We will not learn how to live
together in peace by killing each other’s children.
- Jimmy Carter
My flight back to Paris from Portland was scheduled for later that evening, so I was in no hurry. The cemetery in Salem, Oregon was lit by a brilliant Willamette Valley sun this early morning as I walked up the lane. I had a small map with a location marked on it, the final resting place of my grandparents.
I stopped and stood quietly, reverently, before the marker for Henry W.
“Andy” Anderson and Lucile Anderson. I felt a sense of connection after this long journey that amplified fond memories of my childhood, and filled me with a wonderful sense of pride.
I had donated the original letters to the Canadian museum at Juno Beach. They made museum-quality copies for me to take home.
“Hi, Grandpa Andy. It was a long journey, but I fulfilled my promise to Antoine to deliver these.”
I placed the small package with the Juno Letters on Grandpa Andy’s grave.
It was a small moment in the scheme of things. It was a moment I will remember always.
R