Statue of Liberty

Author John T. Cunningham wrote that "The Statue of Liberty was not conceived and sculpted as a symbol of immigration, but it quickly became so as immigrant ships passed under the statue. However, it was Lazarus' poem that permanently stamped on Miss Liberty the role of unofficial greeter of incoming immigrants"

Poem by Emma Lazarus, 1883:

Referring to the ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes,

Emma Lazarus speaks of “The New Colossus”:

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

And from the Prophet Nephi in the Book of Mormon:
Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; … but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.” (2 Ne. 1:7.)

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And so, as the "Nieuw Amsterdam" sailed into New York Harbor on April 1950, carrying among others the Van Os Family, we all gathered on deck to see this great symbol - but the fog was so dense that we couldn't make it out.

Ever since then, for more than 58 years, it has been my wish to see Lady Liberty. And for my Christmas present last December, Trixie gave me a plane ticket to New York.

On Monday, October 27, 2008, Trixie, Adam, and I met Ralph and Stacy (who live in Herndon, Virginia) at Liberty Park. From there we took the ferry that took us on a 360 degree tour around the statue. The weather was beautiful and clear.

We ferried all around the Statue and took a gazillion pictures, of course. After the ferry ride we walked to the RR station. I remember that our luggage was taken from the “Nieuw Amsterdam” and stored in the Railroad Station. It took us awhile to find our luggage, because we were looking under the “O” for “van Os”, when it was actually stored under “V”. I had called the Greyhound station from the ship before we docked and asked them to have a bus ready for our group – I think there were about 30 of us going to Salt Lake City. The bus ride took 72 hours, stopping only occasionally for 10 minute breaks, and once a day for 30 min. After that I swore I would never get on another Greyhound Bus again.

Ralph, Adam, and Trixie climbed the stairs inside the Statue.

I declined, I'm not as young as I used to be.

Liberty Park is a good place to get a look at the NY skyline.

And I finally got my wish – this was a very special day for me.

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Bombing of Rotterdam - WWII

Yesterday I saw a short movie on YouTube about the bombing of Rotterdam during WWII. I’ve never talked much about the war - maybe in an effort to forget it. But, of course, that’s impossible, and I owe it to my posterity to record as much as I remember. Actually, that’s why my granddaughter Kayla wanted me to start this blog - to once in awhile record something about "The Olden Days".

The war began in Holland on May 10, 1940 - I was almost 13 years old. Very early in the morning we woke up to the sound of airplanes. I ran out into the street in my nightgown and there we saw german airplanes dropping hundreds of parachutist on the city of Rotterdam (about 7 miles from my hometown Vlaardingen). These parachutist then took up strategic locations in the city. We were told later that many of the parachutists wore civilian clothes, and some were dressed as catholic priests, but I couldn’t tell for sure from where I was. I just saw figures falling out of planes.

During the next four days more planes and troops and then tanks and heavy equipment followed. The Germans invaded all of our borders. By Tuesday, May 14, they gave Rotterdam an ultimatum to surrender or be bombed. News of our capitulation reached the enemy in time but, nonetheless, heavy bombardment started about 1:45 in the afternoon.

For two and a half hours the Germans kept bombing the city - a relentless rain of death poured from the skies. After the bombing was over, more than 26,000 buildings lay in wreckage. Nearly 25,000 men, women and children lay dead in the street or buried under the masses of rubble. (I’ve never seen a complete and accurate count of the dead, but the general consensus is 25,000.)

Even though he bombing lasted for only a few hours, for at least three days the inner city was pitch black because of all the smoke and dust - there was actually more damage from the fires that broke out than from the actual bombing

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Our LDS church building in the St. Jans Straat, where I had been baptized some 4 years earlier, was totally destroyed.

Also heavily bombed was the "Sint Laurens Kerk", a beautiful cathedral. Only the walls of the church survived. The entire interior burned down. The restoration of the St. Laurens Church took place between 1952 and 1968.
The church is now mainly used for concerts, lectures and exhibitions.

The next five years - my teen years, I spent trying to cope with the war, and utterly hating the germans.