United States grateful for the care of

Graves in Margraten

MARGRATEN - The United States is very grateful to the people of Limburg for caring for the graves of 8301 American soldiers who died in the field of honor in Margraten, South Limburg, since the end of World War II. "Because the Limburgers have taken care of those who rest here, they are never forgotten. This unique adoption project is one of the examples of why the United States and the Netherlands are true friends, ”said US ambassador Pete Hoekstra on Sunday.

In the United States, it is Monday Memorial Day, the day on which all killed soldiers are commemorated. It is customary for a memorial to be held on the Sunday before that at the American Cemetery in Margraten. The commemoration would be tackled this year because the Netherlands celebrates 75 years of freedom, but that was canceled because of the corona measures. Now there was only very limited company on the vast field of white crosses. King Willem-Alexander was the first to lay a wreath.

The cemetery in Margraten has been in use since the autumn of 1944. Limburg was already liberated then. The American liberators had yet to advance to the German Rurh area. The Americans did not want to bury their fallen on enemy territory and therefore received a piece of Dutch land on loan. Immediately after the war, the Limburgers wanted to give something back to their liberators. This led to the adoption project with regular contact between the Dutch and American survivors.

"I deeply regret that the adoptive families cannot be there today because of corona," Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld said on Sunday. "They consider the heroes resting here as their own brothers and sisters, as their sons and daughters. But we never forget these American men and women. The silence they left behind speaks loudly. They paid the highest price for their country and our freedom. ”

Forever grateful American Heroes.

We will never forget

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