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Judge to speak on grateful Europe
SALEM — War and gratitude are not the opposites they may seem.
Judge Carol Ann Robb of Columbiana County Municipal Court will speak at 7 p.m. today at the Salem Historical Society, 208 S. Broadway Ave., on the topic “From Grateful Nations.”
She and her husband, Kenneth, are deeply interested in history.
“We are both interested in history and the lessons you can learn from history,” she said Monday.
That, she found, is gratitude from those who were liberated — and even from one man who fought against the Allies.
She and her husband, who is particularly interested in the Civil War, have traveled to the battlefields in Gettysburg, Pa.
“We’ve experienced being on hallowed ground,” she said.
But their interest earlier this year took them to Europe, in part in search of the grave of Gilbert Robb, the great-uncle of Ken Robb.
Gilbert Robb died in World War II. They do not know the date of his death. He was 20 or 21 years old and was killed defending a bridge in Belgium. Gilbert is buried in the Luxembourg National Cemetery.
The cemetery caretakers have sand from Omaha Beach, where the allies stormed ashore to begin the liberation of Europe in 1944.
The group included two veterans who went ashore during the Normandy invasion June 6, some 65 years ago.
Another stop was Sainte Mere Eglise, France, where Pvt. John Steele of the 82nd Airborne dropped in and his parachute was caught on a church spire. Germans first thought he was dead, then took him into custody. He then escaped.
The village became the first one liberated from the Germans. Today, a uniformed mannequin hangs from a parachute and rigging on the steeple in his honor.
The two veterans who were part of the small tour group saw it all. They went ashore on Omaha Beach and fought through the Battle of the Bulge.
Judge Robb said that the locals — then and now — were grateful. At one point, a mayor had musicians play the American national anthem.
At another stop, a German thanked the veterans for saving them from the Nazis.
David Stratton, director of the historical society’s museum, said the program became a reality when a member learned of the travels of the Robbs and asked her to speak. The museum has has a wide variety of programs over the years, including ones on the military.
wilkinson@vindy.com