Our journey today took us from Bangkok to a national park that contains a memorial cemetery to men who gave their lives fighting the Japanese in Thailand. We stopped at this well tended memorial to give honour to these men. British, Australians, and Dutch soldiers and sailors have memorial stones in this place. All American bodies were returned to the USA. Particularly poignant was the stone memorialising a sixteen year old Dutch sailor. Australians left small koalas and Aussie flags. One British stone had a small crocheted poppy. Tiny flags of the three nations waved over a number of the sites. Two twenty year olds in our group had no idea what was significant about this place, while another was moved to tears. I think this is understandable but sad, because the young ones only think of WWII and the Holocaust. Afterward we had the opportunity of walking across the Kwai on the Bridge. It was a solemn experience for all of us much like a visit to Arlington.
