Well, I can tell you that, having been around the world, know what you're saying, tankerbuilder about being somewhere and feeling that evocative feeling of standing on "hallowed ground". I've been to some of the great battlefields of Europe, and the feeling of standing, say, between the Brandenburg Gate and the old Reichstag building was humbling, to say the least.
The same feeling of awe hit me when I stood on Red Square in Moscow, and imagined it during the 1940's. I've been to Cologne, numerous times, and there's still a church there which is left burned out and bombed out, and of course, the Dom itself was in the very heart of the fight. I've stood where that Panther was burned out and reflected on the death around me more than half a century ago.
I've walked on numerous German and Dutch battlefields and ruminated heavily on the conflict, the death, the ideology and the legacies of those times.
I've been to many, many castles where evidence of the battles was still evident, and I've walked the Walls of Constantinople and saw the hole in the dungeon floor which emptied out into the Sea of Bosphorus in Istanbul where they threw the head of Sultan Osman II after he was taken prisoner and tortured. I've also stood on the battlefield where the "300" resisted the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae in Greece.
The ironic thing is, I have been to very few American battlefields or areas of conflict. The only thing that I can think of that really hit me hard was the Vietnam Veteran's memorial in Washington DC, and I"m not ashamed to say that I cried. SO many names, so many young kids who gave their lives. I built my M48 Patton here and dedicated it to the veterans--many of whom helped me with details of that build here on the forums.