The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

teenagers in Boége, a town about 10 miles away. I spoke to them for an hour about Dachau alone, an- swering many questions. That was followed by another speech and re- ception in Poublier, a small town on Lake Geneva. The young mayor of that town had been so in- terested in what had happened during the war that he had visited seven concentration camps in Ger- many, collecting handfuls of dirt from each, which he buried in a marble monument next to his city hall. Once again, I was asked to lay a wreath and make brief remarks. Never Again Our visits to Habere-Poche and St. Ismier were ex- tremely memorable. As the only American veteran from the liberation of Dachau whom they had ever met, I was treated royally. While I pleaded that I was just a former private first class, I was deeply honored to have such a unique opportunity. The return visit to Dachau for the 65th anniversary of its libera- tion, where I saw old friends and made new ones among the French survivors, was also an inspiring ex- perience. To hear these men re- count their stories and to see the contrast between their situation in 1945 and in 2010 — revealing what that famous Liberation Day meant in their lives, and mine — is something I will never forget. It also serves as a fresh reminder that my wartime ex- perience was one of the main factors that propelled me to- ward the Foreign Service. In that capacity, I like to think that I played my small part to prevent a scourge like Nazism from ever appearing again. ■ J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 F O C U S In 1995, I visited Dachau for the first time since 1945, representing my unit at a large memorial ceremony organized by the Bavarian government.