THIMISTER-CLERMONT, Belgium (AP) — The memory of blood dripping from trucks loaded with the mangled bodies of U.S. soldiers arriving at a nearby war cemetery straight from the battlefield in 1945 still gives 91-year-old Marcel Schmetz nightmares.
It also instilled a lifelong sense of gratitude for the young soldiers from the United States and around the world who gave their lives battling the armies of Adolf Hitler to end World War II in Europe.
Schmetz even built a museum at his home in the Belgian Ardennes to honor their sacrifice.
“If the Americans hadn’t come, we wouldn’t be here,” the Belgian retiree said.
That same spirit also pervades Normandy in northern France,
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