Picture by John Reidy
We were promised a slow day, something so very welcome to us at this point in our trip. We didn’t have to leave very early for the Freedom Lecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology, so most of us enjoyed sleeping in. The Freedom Lecture is given to honor the Four Freedoms speech given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 around four universal freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want.
The first honorary speaker, Lieutenant Colonel James Megellas, was a man we’ve had the honor of interacting with all week. He gave the small auditorium an overview of the war’s beginning, and some of his own heartbreaking experiences during its duration. The story that stuck in my mind most was about a Dutchman whom American troops had rescued from a camp, and his emotional gratitude afterward. His description of the man was sobering: frail, haggard, exhausted… Megellas said the Dutchman had but days to live. When the man had thanked them, he had cried. “I don’t know where he got the strength to cry.” The auditorium had been respectfully quiet until then, but to me, instantly became solemnly silent. It is impossible for anyone to hear such stories and not be deeply impacted. And we have heard so many such stories on this trip…
General David Petraeus, the next honorary speaker, began his speech by describing his own ties to the country and the history we were remembering. Son of a Dutch sea captain, and former commanding general of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, this event and the national commemoration of it means something to him. He is not merely a visiting celebrity, but a friend returning to a place of personal history. I think the veterans with us appreciated his relationship to them even though it was indirectly.
The veterans ate lunch at the University with Megellas and Petraeus after the Lecture, but the students were asked to eat in a different room. It was the first time we’d been separated from our veterans all week for any of the activities, and several of us commented on it. It felt strange. We’ve become so attached to them, and so used to doing everything by their side.
After lunch the group of us walked back the few blocks to the hotel to change clothes, grab some money, and prepare to head out into Eindhoven. We split up into groups and wandered malls for a couple hours, taking advantage of the only free time we’d had all week. We had been wondering if we were ever going to have time to pick up a few things for the people back home who had asked us to!
After we’d finished eating dinner at the farewell banquet, Timothy Davis asked each of the veterans to stand up and gives us their reactions to the trip. Of all the things we have done this week, hearing how this trip has influenced them is by far the best. They were glad to reunite with old comrades and to experience the love of the Dutch people.
All of them expressed gratitude that they’d decided to come; several mentioned the reservations they’d had before hand. They had put the most painful time in their lives behind them, and to revisit it had not made any sense. But Bill Hannigan reassured us with his closing words that the trip had been a success: “I’m over it.” And everyone knew how powerful those words were, and what they meant.
-Written by College of the Ozarks Student
Trip provided for Veterans and students by Greatest Generations Foundation
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