Beauty and Sadness at Margraten

By ahavelaar @Adobe Stock

Honoring the Sacrifices of US Soldiers

In the Netherlands, there is a cemetery for fallen US soldiers. Margraten’s “striking physical beauty” only enhances the dignity of the memorial.

Before 1945, locals in the southwestern part of the Netherlands celebrated “Liberation Day.” Since then, locals have been adopting fallen Americans, over 8,000 of whom are buried in this majestic site. Visitors are moved not only by the beauty but also the sheer number of American liberators who gave their lives to free Dutch living under the tyranny of Nazism.

Near the Cologne-Boulogne highway, the cemetery’s rich historical background adds to its lore. It is thought to have been built by the Romans and used by Caesar during his campaign in that area. Good enough for Caesar, other notables imitated: Charlemagne, Charles V, Napoleon, and Kaiser Wilhelm II. Hitler’s legions infamously traveled that route on their way to overwhelm the Low Countries in May 1940. Four years later, they made the return trip as they withdrew from the countries they had been occupying.

A foundation was established to allow locals to adopt and care for a specified burial site, James Freeman reports in the WSJ.

The white marble crosses and David’s stars remind us of the soldiers —often young—who gave their lives for our freedom during World War ll.” For years there has been a waiting list of those hoping for the honor of taking care of a gravesite and keeping American relatives informed about their loved ones’ final resting place.

Dutch adopters can be quite dogged in their wonderful effort to honor fallen Americans and to share the experience, continues Mr. Freeman.

For example, there was Joe Mevis, on a waitlist for five years before he was able to adopt a US soldier’s gravesite. Mr. Mevis shared his experiences of why he biked to Margraten two-three times a week:

“I went for the silence and what the Soldiers did for us.”