Wednesday September 3, 1930

Again as on the second day’s visit to the cemetery, on this third day’s visit to the cemetery, most of the pilgrims seemed to be at peace.  They continued to visit with each other, and talk about their younger days, and their interests back home. 

Some observations by American cemetery workers about the visitors to the cemeteries:

“The Gold Star mothers are the finest visitors that have come to France from America since the boys come themselves.”

“Gee, they’re wonderful.  Some of them may at moments joke, many of them cry, and others sit hour after hour, doing nothing but just sitting and thinking, I suppose.  They don’t say much, and when they want little things done, they speak softly and kindly, and it’s a pleasure just to be able to do something for them. . . .”

“They come here as though they were coming home, tired after a long journey, and they just sit and think . . . they know what it was all about – that war.”

“They are pretty near all alike.  Their clothes are different, and some are smarter than others, but their faces are the same.  When they come in here, they are just like this row of graves, without rank or wealth, and they sit under that old flag up there that meant so much to their sons and husbands.  When you see them, you get the idea that it still does mean a lot.”

At the end of this third day at the cemetery, the pilgrims returned to their hotels for dinner and rest.  Did Josephine think back on her first sight of Buddy’s grave this past Sunday?  In her mind did she remember Buddy as a baby, as a child, as young man going off to war?

We leave Josephine tonight, alone in her thoughts about Buddy.

Note:    In most of the written records of many pilgrimages that took place in the years 1930-1933, the mothers and widows give very little details about the emotions they felt during the time they spent at the cemetery at the grave of their loved ones.  Maybe it was just too personal a moment to put down on paper for others to read.


Source: written by Carolyn Ourso