After reflecting on our visit to the town of Ieper the last town from which all the allied troops went to defend the front. A town that the Military decided was to be defended at all costs...roughly a million allied and german troops.... from the old photo you can see how much of the town remained after the war... the town did not fall to the germans but was basically pounded to bits (it has the distinction of being the first place on earth completely leveled by artillery shelling alone)... it was rebuilt as it had been before the war... The rebuilding of the town in the image of the pre-war town is to me the greatest monument of all.... because it says love is stronger than hate... war may destroy everything but when the war is over it will be rebuilt again...
Again I'm reminded of the documentary I watched last night about the World Wars... there were some pictures/video clips of Stalingrad during that time and I was amazed at how it looked much the same as when Layli and I visited there in '91. I was 9 at the time... though it no where near as beautiful as Ieper... it was very utilitarian and I remember thinking it was the worst/ugliest city I had ever been in.
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