Visit Flanders Fields in Belgium

“It wasn’t long before we reached Ypres, and the van pulled up to Essex Farm Cemetery. It was located just off of the main road, but the scenary was stunning. The soft morning light illuminated the green hills and peeked out through the branches of the trees; trees that stood over white gravestones. There wasn’t any wind, and the stillness gave the battlefield a very solemn atmosphere. I could tell that we all sensed the need to be as quiet and as still as the landscape. I almost felt as if we had intruded. The dead didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Then in 2014, in commemoration of the Great War Centenary, I was invited to Flanders, Belgium to actually see Flanders Fields, the poppies, and thousands of soldiers graves as far as the eye could see. Now, with a heavy heart I understood the enormity of the senseless suffering and loss.”

“I visited the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. Their permanent exhibition holds an immense amount of information. There are excellent films, computer programs, photos and hundreds of pieces of war memorabilia. Though I was there for close to two hours, it still wasn’t enough time to see everything. One leaves with a very heavy heart.”