Evening star., 1949-12-04

Capt. NICHOLS DeCdlAc q iAAoA nv
flyer because of his daring comoa'
missions against the Nazls. he Il
buried near the place where ms
plane went down, in the United
States Military Cemetery al
Hamm, about three miles from
the city of Luxembourg.
To be relieved of Transportation
problems, hotel arrangements anc
customs perplexities, DR.. Nichols
had travel agents prepare an all
expense tour which the family
found eminently satisfactory.
Joining the NicholSes as travel
ing companions to their chief OBJ
jective and through the eight
other countries they subsequently
included in their Western Euro
pean tour were their close friends
Mr.. and Mrs. George M. Norris
Mrs. Norris is corresponding sec
retary of the Goth Century Club
of which Mrs. Nichols is a past
president. Mr.. Norris is with the
United States Civil Service Com
mission and has long been a frieno
of Mr.. Nichols who is head OF the
Audit Review Division of the In
come Tax Section of the Interna
Revenue Bureau.
Services Very Impressive.
Their arrival in Luxembourg
was timed to coincide with the
May 80 memorial services in the
Hamm Cemetery.
In charge of the religious serv-
ices were Army, ,chaplains who hac
served with the fallen heroes t6
whom tribute was paid.
The commemorative remarks
were made by Gen. George C.
Richards of the Headquarters
European Command.
He spoke with a Lincolnesque
brevity, which reminded us of the
Great Emancipator's famous Get
tysburg Address upon a similar
occasion following the Civil War;
according to Mrs. Nichols. After
the laying of the official wreaths
and the moment of silent. individ-
ual commemoration which con-
cluded the ceremonies. we real
lied that what might have been
an unbearable experience for the
Nichols family had turned out to
be an infinitely comforting one
from a spiritual standpoint-one
ineffably dear to each of us fol
all our life times" Mrs. Nichols
told me. Naturally we are more
deeply convinced than ever before.
after taking part in these unfor'
gettable exercises on foreign soil,
that our Ben's life and that of the
hundreds upon hundreds of thou
sands of other sons lives in tht
Allied command must not have
been given in vain for democracy s
Ideals
Feeling Of Kinship Is General.
LAS a community and as indi-
viduals. every man, woman ane
child in Luxembourg with whom
we had opportunity to talk, had a
warm and tender attitude toward
the nearly 5000 American deae
who lie in their midst" Mrs
Nichols said. Gen. Patton. OF
course. is a national hero. whom
they revere as they do their owr
great men of the ages. but they
have the same sacred feeling fol
the grave of the humblest private
in the ranks In the Hamm Gem
etery, and they make no difference
in the votive offerings of flower!
which they make upon the ami
versaries common to all countries
alike. It has become a national
and individual custom to adopt
an American grave to which young
and old together in family weno
their way in tribute when the Gem.
etery is open to the general public
Letters, too. are often written
painstakingly to survivors. ane
pictures inclosed whenever this /!
possible"
The Nicholses spent much o1
their time in Luxembourg with
DR.. Leo Tiges, a dentist of 4 Rue
Glesher street, who. with his wife
had adopted Capt. Nichols grave
and with whom they had pre-.
viously exchanged letters. Only
this week the Nicholses have hae
an airmail letter from DR.. anc
Mrs. Tiges and one from theil
friends of the years, Mr.. and Mrs
Karl Fenning Of this city. now or
a tour through Europe, telling o.
their Thanksgiving visit to the
grave.
Luxembourg is a story-bool
country" Dorothy Nichols re-
minded me.
It's picturesque castles. some
built in the 18th and 18th cen.
lures, are reminders of the war.
ring barons and feuding mobiles
who held them as strongholds o.
power. Clervaux, one of them
was once the home Of the De Ian
moi family. Philip De Lanno
CDelano). 17th century, was al
ancestor Of President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.
The banks of the Moselle Rivel
have echoed to the songs of grape
gatherers and holiday makers ane
have rung with the awful din o:
battle during many centuries o.
shock and change and th'
devastating cataclysm of the las
two great wars.
Luxembourg, the capital city, il
a prosperous, modern metropolis
despite the fact that 1t is city
thousand years old with formi'
dable, once impregnable fortif1ca.
tions, cathedral and town spire!
rising above the suburbs nestled
below it. Transversed by the Rive1
Alzette, one of its modern bridge:
strongly reminded the Nichol.
family of the Taft span here.
Since the 1870 discovery OF iror
ore I,uxembo,lrp'S steel induStrie.