From this monument to another earlier world conflict, it was ever onwards still following the fighting path of the 79th Division on the eve of the great French holiday Bastille Day. That evening our party was further fêted in the beautiful town of Hatten before returning to Strasbourg in readiness for the spectacle that was to be our party's involvement in a full military parade in the garrison town of Haguenau, another of the names inextricably linked with the 79th's advance across the continent of Europe.

In the company of the small, but businesslike figure of Lise Pommois, chronicler of American military history in the area, the veterans took their honored place on the saluting dais as the rest of the tour party staked our various vantage points.

France is the only country in Europe that still celebrates its strong relationship between the people and its Armed Forces and every 'Bastille Day' the nation re-affirms its commitment to its military. As the might of the modern French army braved yet more rain as it marched past its new Commanding Officer, the French Haguenau garrison paid its respects to its American liberators of the town.

Then it was back to Hatten near France's once famous but utterly hopeless 'Maginot Line' and thence to the small town of Rittershoffen, where years before the 79th had been in one of its toughest fire-fights en route to Germany. This was a poignant location for the Whitley family from Greensboro, North Carolina, for here it was that Ruby Whitley's late husband Hubert, had been hit and dragged behind a wall during a vicious confrontation between the 315th Infantry Regiment and the élite German 7th Fallschirmjäger Regiment in January 1945. Clearly an emotional hiatus for the family, youngest daughter Teresa located the actual wall where her father had lain all those years before. How did she feel?

A touching delegation greeted the party in the small town hall and a moving rendition of a tune taken from a former GI's hymn book was performed by two young schoolgirls. The young of both France and America had played a vital and inspiring part in this emotional tour and as we neared the end of our pilgrimage I wondered how young 15-year-old Codi, grand-daughter of Les Brantingham, had been coping with the overwhelming weight of history and remembrance being put upon such young shoulders?

"Grandpa's very pleased I'm here and I am extremely honored to be making the trip. It's neat to experience something that not many people back home would get a chance to see.
I've heard some of Grandpa' stories as I've been growing up, so I know a lot about what went on because I have actually listened to him. Now when he talks about where he was, I can imagine him and all his buddies actually being there'

Now in our last weekend, we were on the road from Alsace around the citadel town of Metz, scene of more fierce fighting in the final months of the war, via a stop at the American Military Cemetery at St Avold for a final act of remembrance and an opportunity for a team photograph, before heading through the Argonne to beautiful Reims, the capital of the champagne country.