May 8th, known as V-Day in France, marks the end of World War II when Germany signed the act of military surrender in Berlin, Germany on May 8, 1945.

I mention this blast from the past because even though WWII ended in 1945, reminders of the war still exist almost everywhere you look in France. Memorials can be seen in just about every city, town, or village and always with a small bouquet of flowers at their base to signify that people still remember.

But in most cases you don’t have to go far to see evidence that a war took place here. Remove wallpaper from a wall and you might see concentric and in most cases almost equal in size bullet holes left behind. Or you might find larger holes caused by shelling on exterior walls; left untouched and visible to remind us that peace, though silent, still rings with the echoes of war to this day.

This morning, I heard from a friend that a large bomb was uncovered by workmen digging a trench along the roadway to Angouleme. It measured approximately 1.2 meters long, cylindrical in shape with fins like those of dolphins on the back and less than a meter deep in the ground.

With Memorial Day being just around the corner on May 30, 2016, it is easy to forget why we celebrate May 30th as a day of Remembrance. Lacking these visual reminders, we tend to focus more on the great bargains we can get at the shopping malls and forget – nay - not occur to us why we call it “Memorial Day.”

Thanks must be given to all the men and women of our military and reserves, who served and died during conflict and who serve now to keep us safe and innocent within the silence of peace.

May peace reign eternal!

Au revoir!