From Europe: Leaving the Netherlands, Entering Germany

The Princeton women's soccer team is in the Netherlands and Germany during spring break week. Here is a blog entry from the junior class:

Blog Post 3/18

Today's journey began with a morning practice in the Dutch city of Margraten. We started the practice with some technical drills, followed by shooting and flying changes. The weather was sunny throughout most of practice, with only one period of brief hail. After practice finished, we headed over to the field's clubhouse and enjoyed a variety of sandwiches, soup, coffee, and tea. We sat and chatted for awhile, taking the opportunity to relax and enjoy the beautiful day. Right before we were about to get on the bus to leave, an iconic moment occurred. Our lift coach, Angie, agreed to be a part of the trip's music video and rap the intro to Glamorous by Fergie. It truly is a cinematographic masterpiece. After this life-changing moment, we got on the bus, unaware of the incredible experience that awaited us.
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We pulled up to the Netherlands American Cemetery unsure of the exact purpose of the visit. The itinerary had hinted at the fact that we would be participating in a "give-back" experience and help maintain the property, but it was much more than just this. Open entering the cemetery, a beautiful fountain, statue, and memorial commemorating American soldiers welcomed us. Our guide, Juan brought us over to the side of the memorial, where a giant map illustrating the advances into Europe from the allies stood. He took us through historic city captures and victories by the UK and American forces, some of which occurred in the cities we had already visited. After this introduction, he brought us over to the memorial walls, highlighting the names of some soldiers commemorated and telling us their story.

One of these stories was about American Lieutenant John Herb, who died in 1945 in Germany. His plane crashed in a forest during an attack, unknown to everyone except a 5 year old German boy who witnessed the plane catch smoke and crash into the distance. John Herb remained missing for years, until the boy, now an old man, decided to lead a search party for the remains of the fallen soldier. In his search, he came across a women who had actually witnessed the crash scene, and ran to the plane's side. She told him that the American Soldier survived the crash, but was shot soon after by a German foot patrol. The German women, who sympathized with the soldier, as her own son had gone missing fighting in Russia, gave Lieutenant Herb a proper burial and memorial. Upon hearing this news, the man contacted the German and U.S authorities, who were able to identify the remains of Lieutenant Herb from the finding of his military class ring. Upon further confirmation, Herb's remains were returned to his family in America and given a military burial.

Lieutenant Herb's story remained in our minds as we made our way over to the memorials at the back of the property, each representing a fallen soldier. Now was the time for our give-back opportunity, and we were given a sponge and bucket of water. We lined up in pairs down the rows of crosses and stars of David, and made our way down the line, scrubbing the memorials and making sure they were clean. As we passed each of these markers, we thought about the fact that every one of these names had a story similar to that of Lieutenant John Herb. Each name represented a life.

When I asked Juan what was the one thing he wanted us to take away from this experience, he replied, "these soldiers didn't die for nothing. They deserve to be remembered and have their stories live on." I then asked him how we can continue to support his mission back home, and he remarked that spreading the word was most important to him.

"Recount their experience", he stated, "let people know these memorials exist and that these soldiers didn't die in vain. Their lives are remembered, here in the Netherlands."

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Blog Post 3/19

Hallo! Today got off to a great start as we all enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we took an hour bus ride to Cologne, which gave people some much needed post-meal nap time. Once we got to Cologne, we decided to start prepping for the game a few hours early. To warm up our legs, we climbed the 533 steps to the top of the Cologne Cathedral. It definitely tested our endurance and our calves, but was worth it for the incredible view from the top. After taking it all in, we embarked on our descent and then most of us headed into the cathedral to view the historic chapel. During our free time, we all got lunch and yummy pastries before meeting up again to make the 2 hour drive to our game against Wetzlar FSV Hessen. It was a well-matched game as they were a very technical opponent with a nice style of play. Our efforts paid off midway through the second half when Amy played a beautiful through ball to Courtney, who then played a threatening ball across the box which was put into the back of the net on an own goal. Unfortunately, our opponents net an equalizer about ten minutes later, resulting in a 1-1 draw. It was a great and fun experience playing and meeting the other team, and we are super pumped to get into game mode before our spring season kicks off next week! Danke for reading till the end!

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