The Juno Letters by L.W. Hewitt - HTML preview

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