The Truth Unfolded - Verdun 1916!

Verdun, I would never have thought, in my entire life, even when I have seen documentaries on National Geographic Channel, that the French/German Trench warfare was really as shown on those documentaries. I always thought they exaggerated the war to attract viewership, but last Sunday, 10/23/11 after our visit to the battlefield of Verdun, I am left with no doubt that the trench warfare was real in 1916 and remains real to this day. The memorials, the Fort, the physical trenches, the graves all these are proof of the destruction that took place in Verdun in 1916. Lives were wasted, villages were destroyed and even to this day, the cloud of death still looms over Verdun. I still do not believe neither the French nor German governments have a correct figure of how many lives were lost in that war, besides the soldiers, there were the villagers, children, women, animals and farms. Soldiers were killed and memorized in the underground barracks of the Fort, others were buried alive in the trenches armored and in ready position. Villagers too were hit and buried by the powerful cannons, as a matter of fact, in the movie shown before tours, they state that "nothing was ever expected to grow in Verdun after the war", but slowly life has returned to Verdun. I do not think I have enough right words to express my shock at the number of graveyards, memorials and mass graves, etc, all I can say, Verdun is a place where the smell of death still lingers in the air even after 95 years today.

Dr. Hauser of West Virginia University, who came to visit his group of students, was kind enough to act as our tour guide, took us on a five-hour on foot tour, to the little chapel down deep in the forest where Mass is celebrated once a year in memory of the departed souls, the graves on both sides of the road leading to the chapel look like little garden patches waiting for flower seeds, the mined land with hills created by landing powerful cannons that buried thousands of men,trees and animals alive, the trench memorial that is still as it was then, save for a stone pillar above the ground protecting the dead in the trenches, the spent cannons, you cannot even begin to think what madness drove countries to such heights of war animosity that drove men to built such type of weapons to destroy lives in the name of competition for land ownership! Completely absurd, if the dead French and German soldiers would wake up today and see the unity in Europe, they would simply fall back to their death, wondering what is it they fought so hard for? Why destroy each other only to unify later would be their question. Young men, entered the trenches, and never saw sunlight ever again, the armies coup of engineers, digging trenches in the name of defense, were buried still in digging position. I could go on and on, but what was the purpose of such brutality? They say time heals, and seriously it could not be more true, from what I saw in Verdun, only time could have healed both the French and the Germans, so that brotherly-hood could return in the region and generations to come could live forever happily among each other. Now I understand fully why Schuman/Monnet 'fathered' the idea of starting a cooperation of European Coal and Steel Cooperation (ECSC), so that war would never be fought again in Europe, by manufacturing weapons using coal and steel. One can read all the history books in the world, and one can watch all the documents on National Geographic Channel, but nothing can give you the chill like when you visit the see with your own eyes the destruction that took place in Verdun in 1916. If generations of people were not born to replace depleted generations, I would have vowed that France and Germany would have ceased to exist after Verdun.

It is no wonder then, the European Union is working so hard, patiently and calmly, year after year, 59 years today, to integrate member-states to avoid wars ever returning in the region. It is not just about free movement of citizens, common currency and free trade area, it is more about living together as one continent without borders in peace and harmony with each other and without bloodshed ever taking place on the Europa soil! EU integration is hard to understand to the Europeans even after so many years, but the nationals need to understand that their rich diversity and cultures can only be enriched by sharing it with their neighbors and not about destroying it in the EU integration process, instead it will be enriched and made stronger by living closely with each, understanding each others cultures, sharing foods, learning each other languages and above all trusting each other in a brotherly and neighborly way to foster growth. Viva to the EU Integration! Viva to Schman/Monnet their foresightedness!! - Caroline