10/25/2024
Sharon and I are in Europe for a couple weeks. A few days in Paris and took a coach to Trier, Germany where we pick up a Viking river cruise. We made what turned out to be an emotional stop at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg. Sharon's dad, Sgt. Donald Malarkey was a member of Easy Company, 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne: The Band of Brothers. His closest friend in Easy Company was Sgt. Warren "Skip" Muck. The two were a fearless mortar team and fought side by side through Normandy, The Netherlands, and the hard fought Battle of The Bulge in Belgium. On January 10, 1945, Skip died in his foxhole following a direct by German artillery in Foy, Belgium. Don spoke fondly of Skip as they shared their deepest feelings about a life after wartime. Skip's girlfriend, Faye Tanner, awaited his return to Tonawanda, NY. It was not to be. A memorable painting depicting Don's paying respects at Skip Muck's grave in 2004; showing the deep bonds that were unbroken 60 years later. We visited Skip's grave today and paid our respects to Skip at the American Cemetery and found a profound and perhaps haunting beauty across the 5,000 white gravestones of the fallen Americans in the backdrop of autumn color amid the green grass between the the headstones. Let us never forget that Freedom is never free as the 5,000 gravestones attested today.
