A note from Hannah

As one of our Humanities assignments, we have to research an American soldier who gave his life fighting in Italy during World War II. My soldier was William F Jones from Kentucky. After our research, we visited the Florence American cemetery where William and many other American soldiers are buried. I was very unsure of what the cemetery visit would be like, as I have never visited a national cemetery before. When we arrived, our professors handed us flowers to place on the graves of our soldiers. I took a white carnation and walked slowly to section B, row 4, plot 5. I gently laid my flower on the ground and said a prayer for William and his family and how thankful I was for the sacrifice he made for America and Italy: 2 countries now very close to my heart. The temperature that day was probably in the upper 20's. As I was walking to the top of the memorial, the cold wind cut through my clothes and I was provoked with the thought "How did these soldiers fight in such harsh conditions, worse than today?" Personally I would never be able to do such a task and I am filled with gratitude for those who did. We sang the national anthem, had a word of prayer, and then listened to stories of other soldiers buried in the cemetery. Be the Difference: Never Again is the name of our humanities project. It is solely designed to remember the soldiers who fell so bravely, tell their stories, make connections with people, and show love so that peace may fill our world.

-Hannah Jones, Spring 2018

Posted on March 11, 2018 .