Visit a historical landmark.

“As we toured the battlefield, I realized that visiting historical sites can not only enrich our understanding of a particular historical event, but it can also allow us to engage with history in a way that provides greater local contextualization and a visceral connection to the people who lived through it. In fact, visiting the military park brought the Battle of Gettysburg alive to me in a way that no textbook had been able to until that point. Seeing the collections and reading archival sources such as journal entries and letters available at the museum allowed me to not only imagine life during the Civil War, but also to reflect on the struggles and experiences of soldiers who fought in the war.”

“Overall, despite having plenty of background knowledge on the Holocaust as well as this specific camp from my class research, being able to visit one of the camps in real time was a very sobering experience. The gorgeous sunny weather, the melodious singing of the birds, and the peaceful surrounding landscapes were harshly juxtaposed with menacing concrete walls, barbed wire, and the history of the atrocities committed on these very grounds eighty-some years ago. Such a stark contrast made for a fascinating but unnerving experience.”

“When I entered the (American) grounds there for the first time a couple of years ago, I was so touched and deeply impressed to see the 8301 graves of young Americans, and 1722 names of missing Americans on the Wall of the Missing. I sincerely appreciate and I am very grateful for their sacrifice for the freedom of our country, the Netherlands. [...] Whenever I visit the American cemetery, I stand in awe, and feel sorrow, for the fallen, and also for their families in the United States.”