US Cemeteries in Europe

Go the PBS web site and search for cemeteries in Europe. There is an hour program on these military cemeteries. Gives background as to why each was created. An interesting side note -- In many of the cemeteries there are more officers buried than non-coms.

The Meuse-Argonne cemetery holds the largest number of American war dead in Europe and is rarely visited. The cemetery holds WWI soldiers and too many generations have passed for much interest.

A few years ago we were driving near Maastricht and happened by the Netherlands American Cemetery in the village of Margraten. We decided to stop in and were surprised to see very many Dutch families visiting. We struck up a conversation with one family and they told us that in gratitude for the liberation of their country in WWII, families in the area adopted the graves of American soldiers. Of course the cemetery itself is maintained by the US government, but local families visit their adopted soldiers' graves and bring flowers. They never knew the soldier in life, but now think of them and honor them as part of their family. This has been handed down from generation to generation, and they continue to teach their children the tradition.

We were very touched by this tradition and their obvious commitment to it. It makes me cry to think of it.

Before I had visited any of the American cemeteries in Europe I thought how sad it was that the soldiers were buried on foreign soil and their families had no grave nearby to visit. After seeing several of the cemeteries I feel differently. They are beautifully maintained, respectful, peaceful places. Very moving to see. If I had a family member there, I could be at peace with that.

I echo Tom's suggestion to visit them during your travels.

Frank, I think the PBS show you are speaking of is called "Hallowed Grounds". Is that the one?

D.D., I think that is the correct title. What I enjoy the most was why that cemetery was located at that spot. Second, all graves in Europe are there by choice. All families of identified solders were given the choice of burial in Europe near where they had fallen or returned to the states. Reason for the high percentage of officers, is that many officer's families believe that the officer would prefer to be buried with his men. The other thing that surprised me was the very high number of unknown.

Observations:

1 -- War sucks.

2 -- There's probably no greater honor than being buried with with the crowd that fought behind you (which is why officers tend to put their rank insignia on the back of their hats when things are about to get messy).

In Paris, just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower about a mile maybe, is the Surenes military cemetery holding American fallen from WWI mostly. It's worth a visit if you are near the ET and have a little time. The American Battle Monuments Commission website lists all the hallowed ground across Europe. A visit to any of them will give you pause......

I spent some time last summer at a US Cemetery out side of Cambridge. There is also a nice little WWII memorial by the Woodman Inn outside of Royston. Inside is a nice old chap named Ian. I spent a few hours in the pub learning about the B17s that were in the area.

This thread brings tears to my eyes. I too will never forget the cemetery in Epinal for the men who fell at the Battle of the Bulge. Despite the extreme sadness for the families who lost these very young men, I felt a nostalgia for the States seeing the mix of surnames: Italian, Irish, Jewish, Polish, English, etc. all side-by-side fighting together and buried together. I was so proud of what they did to liberate Europe.

Another memory goes back to the early 1970s when I stayed in a Dutch woman's home in Amsterdam. She still had taped to the wall the bread wrapper from the first loaf she recovered that had been dropped by a US military plane before Holland was liberated. In fact, in 1970s all over Holland and France people would thank me as if I had liberated their country (or attack me for the Vietnam War).

My Dad's first cousin, a 3rd infantry soldier, was killed in the Vosges mountains in 1944, at age 22. A few years ago I had the privilege of visiting his grave at the American cemetery in Epinal.

The French caretaker, learning I was a relative, personally escorted me to the grave, cut some flowers and placed them on the grave, rubbed the marble cross with sand to make the name stand out in relief, stood at attention by the grave, and then when we were back in his office made a copy of the Army's unit diary which described the combat action the day my cousin was killed.

It came to my mind that day that I was surely the first family member to visit that young soldier's grave since the day he was buried over 60 years earlier. It was a very moving feeling.

There are over 60,000 American dead from WWII who are buried at the American military cemeteries in Europe, and every American who has the chance should consider visiting one.

"It came to my mind that day that I was surely the first family member to visit that young soldier's grave since the day he was buried over 60 years earlier. It was a very moving feeling." Almost the exact same reason I went out of my way to visit Epinal... except I wasn't the first, my mom and her family had visited the grave of our relative in the early 1950s. But after 60 years, I thought Lt. Pawza deserved another set of flowers.

My wife's great uncle is buried at the Brittany Cemetery and we visited summer 2009 about 10 days after memorial day. We walked in without an appointment and spoke to the "Caretaker", an america who lived on the property with his family. He walked out with us to the gravesite carrying a bucket full of stuff. At the marker he took wet sand from his bucket and rubbed it into the engraving on the marker then wiped away the excess. This made the writing stand out more and photograph better. The sand was from Omaha beach. He planted a small american flag next to his marker and pulled a remote control out of his pocket. He asked if he could play taps in honor of her uncle. We said yes and he pointed the remote to the chapel tower and the song played for everyone to hear. I am still moved when I remember that experience.
The chapel was filled with flowers from the previous week's memorial day celebration. He said there were about 1000 people most of whom were french. He talked about giving tours to the local high school kids who are always say, "you mean the americans came all the way over here to help us?" He said most of the fallen have sponsors from the town who visit "their" grave once a year to place flowers.

Good thread! A couple of weeks ago was the anniversary of D-Day. My most felt memory of the D-Day cemeteries (think it was the Normandy American Cemetery) is the monument from the French people that says something like:

"A grateful French nation thanks the Mothers of America for the sacrifice of their sons on this beach, which they call Omaha Beach, in June 1944."

The French put flowers on that monument, every morning.

And also the sculpture called "The Spirit of American Youth Rising From the Waves."

A young man from the Netherlands takes care of my great-uncle's gravesite in Henri Chappelle cemetery in Belgium. He sent a picture of the grave on Memorial Day. Such kindness.

I have also visited German military cemeteries. While there, I do not think of politics or who started the war. I only think that the mothers, wives and sweethearts of those average young German soldiers cried tears just as bitter as their American counterparts.

Good point, D.D., and one which has been remarked upon many times on this site in the past, when the subject has come up.