American Military Cemetery in Margraten in The Netherlands
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

HISTORY

Three months after the successfully landings on the beaches of Normandy, Allied forces had advanced farther than they had thought possible. By mid-September 1944, the U.S. First Army had crossed Luxembourg; captured Liege, Belgium; reached the German frontier near Aachen; and entered the Netherlands near Maastricht. The U.S. Third Army sweeping across France on the right had reached the Moselle River and made contact with the U.S. Seventh Army driving northward from southern France. The British Second Army on the left had liberated Brussels and Antwerp, as the Canadian First Army kept pace with it along the coast liberating Ostend and Bruges. Both Armies then found themselves astride the Netherlands frontier.

At this point, enemy defenses began to stabilize around the Siegfried Line, with the heavily fortified cities in front of that line to the west, and the more easily defensible natural barriers provided by the numerous rivers and canals in the Netherlands to the east. In an attempt to outflank the north end of the Siegfried Line, the Allies launched a combined airborne- ground assault along a narrow corridor across three major rivers (the Meuse, the Rhine and the Neder Rijn) and several canals, the success of which among other things depended heavily upon surprise. At 1400 hours on September 17, 1944, elements of three divisions of the Allied First Airborne Army were landed by parachute and glider in column along the main road from Eindhoven to Nijmegen to Arnhem, a distance of 64 miles from the starting point of the supporting British 30th Corps. Almost immediately, 30th Corps, consisting of one Armored and two Infantry Divisions, encountered stronger resistance than was anticipated. Therefore, its progress was much slower than planned.

Aided by air cover from the U.S. Eighth and Ninth Air Forces and the Royal Air Force, the landings on the drop zones were extraordinarily successful. In the Eindhoven area, the U.S. 101st Airborne Division captured all bridges except one that was destroyed by the enemy. Contrary to plans, the supporting ground column did not reach Eindhoven until the second day and it was early on the third day before the destroyed bridge was replaced. South of Nijimegen, the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division quickly seized the bridge over the Maas (Meuse) River. It was not until the 4th day (20 September), however, that the bridge over the Waal (Rhine) River was captured and not until the 5th day that all defenders were cleared from the area and ground troops were able to cross. The most important bridge of all over the Neder Rijin (lower Rhine) was still ten miles away. Enemy reaction at Arnhem was swift and telling, as it quickly separated the battalion of the British 1st Airborne Division that had seized the north end of the Arnhem bridge from the remainder of the division and encircled the drop zones west of the city.

Harsh weather further complicated the problem by preventing the cutoff battalion from being supported from the air. On the 5th day, a Polish Parachute Brigade made a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to reinforce it. Even when ground troops arrived on September 23 (the 7th day), all attempts to send reinforcements north of the river failed. After dark on 25 September, the battalion’s remainders, less then one-quarter of those who had landed, were evacuated to the south bank.

Allied progress during the next three months was slow as opposition stiffened in all areas. The British Second Army concentrated on widening the sides of the Nijmegen corridor, while the Canadian First Army performed the difficult task of opening the Schelde estuary, so that the port of Antwerp could begin to operated on November 28 and ease the logistical burden. The main Allied offensive effort during this period was shifted to the center of the enemy defenses. There, the U.S. First Army with strong air support from the U.S. Ninth Air Force, broke through the Siegfried Line and encircled Aachen which surrendered on October 21. The U.S. Ninth Army, which had been organized at Brest in Brittany, was shifted from the U.S. First Army’s right flank to its left. Together, the two Armies continued the assault to the Roer River. On its right, the U.S. Third Army and the U.S. Seventh Army, with the French First Army on the extreme right, made substantial gains toward the German frontier.

Suddenly on December 16, 1944, the Allied advance was interrupted as the Germans launched their final major counteroffensive of the war in the Ardennes, followed by a second assault in Alsace to the south. By the end of January 1945, these offensives were halted and all ground retaken. The Allies then resumed their advance, which was planned in two stages. The first stage was to clear all German units west of the Rhine; the second was to invade Germany itself. The advance to the Rhine in the north was scheduled to begin on 8 February 1945, with the Canadian First Army attacking to the southeast, followed in two days by a converging attack to the northeast by the U.S. Ninth and First Armies. When the V Corps of the First Army seized control of the upstream dams of the Roer on 10 February, it discovered that the enemy had destroyed the discharge valves the evening before. The resultant heavy flow of water halted the attack there for two weeks.

At 0245 hours on 23 February, following a short but intensive air and artillery bombardment, the U.S. Ninth Army lowered its assault boats into the swirling waters and began to cross the Roer River before the flood waters had completely subsided. Despite heavy enemy artillery fire, Julich was captured on the first day, with the support of fighters and medium Bombers of the U.S. Ninth Air Force.

By February 25, all four corps of the U.S. Ninth Army had crossed the Roer and were advancing. As the advance turned northward, the armored units were committed. By 1 March 1945, the industrial city of Munchen-Gladbach had been captured. It was the largest German city taken to date. Now the advance became a race to destroy as many units as possible before they could retreat across the Rhine. Despite constant harassment by US aircraft, the Germans were able to demolish all bridges across the Rhine. On March 10, the entire west bank of the Rhine from Dusseldorf northward was in Allied hands. The major assault crossing of the Rhine occurred on 23-24 March, when the U.S. Ninth Army crossed at Rheinberg, a city it had captured on March 6. Advancing Allied Armies by-passed the Northern Netherlands, encircled the Ruhr, then pursued the retreating Germans throughout Germany and Austria. All German forces in Europe surrendered on May 8, 1945.

LOCATION

The Netherlands Cemetery, the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands, is located near the southeast limit of the country in the village of Margraten, 6 miles (10 km) east of Maastricht, on the main highway to Aachen, Germany, which is 14 miles (22 km) farther east. Margraten is 70 miles (112 km) east of Brussels and 252 miles (405 km) northeast of Paris. Maastricht may be reached by train from Brussels, from Paris (Gare du Nord – in approximately 7 hours), any city in Holland, or from Germany via Aachen. A bus service from Maastricht railroad station passes the cemetery entrance. To reach Margraten by automobile from the north, west or south, follow the appropriate highway to Maastricht, then east along the Cadier en Keer/Vaals highway (N278). If driving from Aachen, follow the Maastricht highway (N278) west for 11 miles (18 km) after passing the Netherlands border. There are good hotels at Maastricht, Valkenburg, 4.5 miles (7 km), Aachen and at other towns in the vicinity.

HOURS

The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the Visitors’ Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.

SITE

The cemetery occupies 65 ½ acres of gently rolling farmland just south of the highway. The site was liberated on September 13, 1944, by troops of the U.S. 30th Infantry Division which were advancing northeastward toward the Roer in Germany, as part of the U.S. First Army. A battlefield cemetery, one of the first to be used for the interment of American soldiers who fell on German soil, was established in Margraten on November 10, 1944, by the U.S. Ninth Army. Here rest 8,302 of Allied military Dead, representing 43 percent of those who were originally buried in this and in other temporary cemeteries in this region. Most of them gave their lives in the airborne and ground operations to liberate eastern Holland, during the advances into Germany over the Roer and across the Rhine and in air operations over these regions.

ARCHITECTS

Architects for the cemetery and memorial were Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott, of Boston, Massachusetts. The landscape architects were Clark, Rapuano and Halleran of New York City.

GENERAL LAYOUT

From the entrance gate on the south side of the Maastricht-Aachen highway the approach drive leads to the right, around a grassed oval, to the steps leading to the Court of Honor. Immediately north and south of these steps are the parking areas. Farther to the south is the service area. The Court of Honor of the memorial leads to the tower containing the chapel. Beyond the chapel is the burial area. The cemetery and memorial were completed in 1960.

THE MEMORIAL

Flanking the entrance to the Court of Honor on the south side is the Visitors’ Building. On the north side is the museum room. On the exterior wall of the museum is this inscription taken from General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s dedication of the Golden Book in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London:

HERE WE AND ALL WHO SHALL HEREAFTER LIVE IN FREEDOM WILL BE REMINDED THAT TO THESE MEN AND THEIR COMRADES WE OWE A DEBT TO BE PAID WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR SACRIFICE AND WITH THE HIGH RESOLVE THAT THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE

Engraved on the Roman Travertine walls within the museum are three maps embellished with mosaic and bronze and enamel appliques. The large map on the north wall records the progress of the military operations from the landings in Normandy until the end of the war. Mention is also made of the strategic air attacks which started in 1942. Accompanying the map is a descriptive text in English and Dutch of which this is the English version:

ON 6 JUNE 1944, PRECEDED BY AIRBORNE UNITS AND COVERED BY NAVAL AND AIR BOMBARDMENT, UNITED STATES AND BRITISH COMMOWEALTH FORCES LANDED ON THE COAST OF NORMANDY. PUSHING SOUTHWARD THEY ESTABLISHED A BEACHHEAD SOME 20 MILES IN DEPTH. ON 25 JULY, IN THE WAKE OF A PARALYZING AIR BOMBARDMENT BY THE U.S. EIGHTH AND NINTH AIR FORCES AND THE ROYAL AIR FORCE. THE U.S. FIRST ARMY BROKE OUT OF THE BEACHHEAD WEST OF ST. LO. ON 1 AUGUST IT WAS JOINED BY THE U.S. THIRD ARMY. TOGETHER THEY REPULSED A POWERFUL COUNTERATTACK TOWARD AVRANCHES. CRUSHED BETWEEN THE AMERICANS ON THE SOUTH AND WEST AND THE BRITISH ON THE NORTH, AND ATTACKED CONTINUOUSLY BY THE ALLIED AIR FORCES, THE ENEMY RETREATED ACROSS THE SEINE. SUSTAINED BY THE HERCULEAN ACHIEVEMENTS OF ARMY AND NAVY SUPPLY PERSONNEL, THE ALLIED ARMIES AND AIR FORCES PURSUED VIGOROUSLY. BY MID-SEPTEMBER THE U.S. NINTH ARMY HAD LIBERATED BREST; THE FIRST ARMY HAD SWEPT THROUGH FRANCE, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG AND WAS STANDING ON THE THRESHOLD OF GERMANY; THE THIRD ARMY HAD REACHED THE MOSELLE AND HAD JOINED FORCES WITH THE U.S. SEVENTH AND THE FRENCH FIRST ARMIES ADVANCING NORTHWARD FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. ON THE LEFT FLANK, BRITISH AND CANADIAN TROOPS HAD ENTERED THE NETHERLANDS. ON 17 SEPTEMBER THREE AIRBORNE DIVISIONS DROPPED IN THE EINDHOVEN-ARNHEM AREA IN A BOLD BUT UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO OUTFLANK THE FORTIFIED SIEGFRIED LINE. PROGRESS DURING THE NEXT THREE MONTHS WAS SLOW, THE FIGHTING BITTER AS OPPOSITION STIFFENED. THE OPENING OF THE PORT OF ANTWERP ON 28 NOVEMBER MATERIALLY EASED THE LOGISTICAL BURDEN. IN THE CENTER THE FIRST AND NINTH ARMIES SEIZED AACHEN AND FOUGHT THEIR WAY TO THE ROER. METZ FELL AS THE THIRD ARMY PUSHED TO THE SAAR. ON ITS RIGHT, THE SEVENTH ARMY AIDED BY THE FIRST TACTICAL AIR FORCE DROVE TO THE RHINE AT STRASBOURG, WHILE FRENCH TROOPS FREED MULHOUSE. IN THE ARDENNES, ON 16 DECEMBER, THE ENEMY LAUNCHED HIS FINAL MAJOR COUNTEROFFENSIVE. PROMPT TACTICAL COUNTERMEASURES AND THE SUPERB FIGHTING QUALITIES OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN FINALLY HALTED THIS DRIVE. DURING FEBRUARY AND MARCH THE WEST BANK OF THE RHINE WAS CLEARED IN A SERIES OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS. IN RAPID SUCCESSION, AMERICAN FORCES SEIZED A BRIDGE AT REMAGEN, CROSSED THE RHINE AT OPPENHEIM, THEN ON 23-24 MARCH STAGED WITH THE BRITISH THEIR MAJOR ASSAULT CROSSING NEAR WESEL. PUSHING RAPIDLY EASTWARD OUR ARMIES ENCIRCLED THE ENTIRE RUHR VALLEY IN A GIGANTIC DOUBLE EVELOPMENT. WITH THE AIR AND GROUND FORCES OPERATING AS A TEAM, THE ALLIES SWEPT ACROSS GERMANY TO MEET THE ADVANCING TROOPS OF THE USSR AND FORCE THE COMPLETE SURRENDER OF THE ENEMY ON 8 MAY 1945, 337 DAYS AFTER THEIR INITIAL LANDINGS IN FRANCE.

Map of Europe's Liberation
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

On the west wall the map portrays the daring large-scale airborne operation which was intended to outflank the fortified Siegfried Line and seize the crossings of the Lower Rhine. It, too, is accompanied by an inscription in both languages of which this is the English version:

IN EARLY SEPTEMBER 1944, THE ALLIED FORCES WERE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD IN A SWEEPING ADVANCE. PROGRESS THROUGH FRANCE AND BELGIUM WAS RAPID, BUT AS OUR TROOPS APPROACHED THE GERMAN FRONTIER THE OPPOSITION STIFFENED. TO OUTFLANK THE SIEGFRIED LINE AND THUS TO OBTAIN IMMEDIATELY A BRIDGEHEAD OVER THE RHINE, THE ALLIES LAUNCHED A STRONG AIRBORNE AND GROUND ASSAULT IN THE EASTERN NETHERLANDS. ON 17 SEPTEMBER 1944 ELEMENTS OF THE U.S. 101ST AND 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISIONS AND THE BRITISH 1 AIRBORNE DIVISION DROPPED IN COLUMN ALONG THE MAIN ROAD FROM ENDHOVEN TO ARNHEM. THEIR MISSION WAS TO CAPTURE THE BRIDGES OVER THE MAJOR CANALS AND OVER THE MAAS, THE WAAL AND THE NEDER RIJN, THUS ESTABLISHING A CORRIDOR THROUGH WHICH THE BRITISH 30 CORPS WOULD ADVANCE RAPIDLY AND ESTABLISH ITSELF NORTH OF THE NEDER RIJN. ON THAT DAY MORE THAN 1,500 TROOP CARRYING AIRCRAFT AND 478 GLIDERS OF THE U.S. IX TROOP CARRIER COMMAND AND THE ROYAL AIR FORCE, PROTECTED BY 2,200 COMBAT AIRPLANES OF THE U.S. EIGHTH AND NINTH AIR FORCES AND THE ROYAL FORCE, CARRIED APPROXIMATELY 50% OF THE STRENGTH OF THE THREE AIRBORNE DIVISIONS. INTENSIVE AIR BOMBARDMENT OF ANTI AIRCRAFT GUN POSITIONS AND AIRFIELDS, AND THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SURPRISE CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE INITIAL OPERATIONS. IMMEDIATELY AFTER LANDING, THE 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION SECURED THE BRIDGES IN ITS AREA EXCEPT THAT AT SON WHICH THE ENEMY DESTROYED. THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION CAPTURED INTACT THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE MAAS AT GRAVE BUT FOUND NIJMEGEN TOO STRONGLY HELD. A BATTALION OF THE BRITISH 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION REACHED ARNHEM AND SEIZED THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE HIGHWAY BRIDGE ACROSS THE NEDER RIJN, BUT OVERPOWERING ENEMY FORCES HELD THE REMAINDER OF THE DIVISION WITHIN A SMALL PERIMETER WEST OF THE CITY. ON SUCCEEDING DAYS, BAD WEATHER DELAYED AIRBORNE REINFORCEMENTS AND SUPPLIES AND THUS PREVENTED EFFECTIVE AIR ASSISTANCE TO THE FORCES FIGHTING TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN THE CORRIDOR. MENWHILE THE ADVANCING 30 CORPS PASSED THROUGH THE 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION WHICH HAD CAPTURED EINDHOVEN. IT THEN JOINED THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION IN ITS ATTACK ON THE NIJMEGEN BRIDGES, BOTH OF WHICH WERE FINALLY SEIZED INTACT ON THE EVENING OF 20 SEPTEMBER BY THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION IN COOPERATION WITH BRITISH ARMORED UNITS; BUT BRITISH INFANTRY COULD NOT REACH THE SOUTH BANK OF THE NEDER RIJN IN FORCE UNTIL 24 SEPTEMBER. THE ENEMY PREVENTED ALL ATTEMPTS TO REINFORCE THE TROOPS BEYOND THE RIVER, AND AFTER DARK ON 25 SEPTEMBER THE REMNANTS OF THE DECIMATED 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION WERE EVACUATED.

On the east wall the map records the operations in the crossing of the Roer and the advance to the Rhine; this is the English version of its inscription:

UPON THE VICTORIOUS CONCLUSION OF THE ARDENNES CAMPAIGN ON 25 JANUARY 1945 THE ALLIES UNDERTOOK THE TASK OF DESTROYING THE ENEMY ARMIES WEST OF THE RHINE. THE FIRST ATTACK WAS TO BE MADE ON THE NORTHERN FLANK BY THE CANADIAN FIRST ARMY AND THE U.S. NINTH ARMY; THE U.S. FIRST ARMY WAS TO ADVANCE ON THEIR RIGHT. THE CANADIANS OPENED THE OFFENSIVE ON 8 FEBRUARY BUT ON THE NEXT DAY THE ENEMY FLOODED THE ROER VALLEY BY RELEASING THE WATER FROM AN UPSTREAM DAM. THIS CREATED AN IMPASSABLE OBSTACLE BEFORE THE NINTH ARMY, WHICH THEN POSTPONED ITS ASSAULT FOR NEARLY TWO WEEKS. DURING THE RESULTING DELAY THE U.S. EIGHTH AND NINTH AIR FORCES CONTINUOUSLY ATTACKED BRIDGES, RAILROAD TRACKS AND MARSHALLING YARDS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RHINE TO ISOLATE THE BATTEFIELD. REACHING A CLIMAX ON 22 FEBRUARY, THE BOMBARDMENT SYSTEMATICALLY DISRUPTED THE ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS THROUGH-OUT GERMANY. IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF 23 FEBRUARY, FOLLOWING AN INTENSIVE ARTILLERY PREPARATION, THE LEADING UNITS OF THE NINTH ARMY LOWERED THEIR ASSAULT BOATS INTO THE SWIRLING WATERS OF THE STILL FLOODED ROER. THE SWIFT CURRENT AND ENEMY ARTILLERY FIRE ON THE CROSSING SITES MADE PASSAGE OF THE RIVER MOST HAZARDOUS, BUT THE XIX CORPS ADVANCED AND CAPTURED JULICH ON THE FIRST DAY WHILE THE XIII CORPS MADE SUBSTANTIAL GAINS IN THE LINNICH AREA. FIGHTERS AND MEDIUM BOMBERS OF THE NINTH AIR FORCE CLOSELY SUPPORTED THE FORWARD UNITS, DESTROYING ENEMY TANKS AND EQUIPMENT; THE BRIDGEHEADS ON THE EAST BANK WERE MADE SECURE BY THE END OF THE SECOND DAY. ONCE ACROSS THE RIVER, THE U.S. NINTH ARMY OFFENSIVE RAPIDLY GATHERED MOMENTUM. ON 25 FEBRUARY THE XVI CORPS CROSSED ON THE LEFT FLANK. ARMORED UNITS WERE COMMITTED AS THE DIRECTION OF ADVANCE TURNED NORTHWARD AND BROKE THROUGH THE ENEMY LINES BY 1 MARCH THE INDUSTRIAL CENTER OF MONCHEN-GLADBACH HAD BEEN CLEARED, THE LARGEST GERMANY CITY YET CAPTURED BY ALLIED FORCES. THE BATTLE BECAME A PURSUIT. THE OBJECTIVE NOW WAS TO PREVENT AS MANY ENEMY AS POSSIBLE FROM ESCAPING. THE SIX CORPS REACHED THE RHINE NEAR NEUSS ON 2 MARCH WHILE THE XIII CORPS ENTERED KREFELD; EARLY THE NEXT DAY THE CORPS MADE CONTACT WITH THE CANADIAN FIRST ARMY AT GELDERN. CONSTANTLY HARASSED BY THE FIGHTER-BOMBERS OF THE NINTH AIR FORCE, THE ENEMY WITHDREW, DEMOLISHING THE BRIDGES AS HE RETREATED ACROSS THE RIVER. BY 6 MARCH RHEINBERG, THE FUTURE CROSSING SITE FOR THE NINTH ARMY, HAD BEEN TAKEN FOUR DAYS LATER THE WEST BANK OF THE RHINE FROM DUSSELDORF NORTHWARD WAS IN ALLIED HANDS.

Below the maps are insignia of the principal major units which participated in these operations. These maps were designed by Lewis York of New Haven, Conn., from data prepared by the American Battle Monuments Commission, and were executed by the Dura Company of Heerlen, Holland. The enamel bronze appliques were fabricated by the Morris Singer Company of London. On the esterior east wall of the museum are mounted the two series of key maps “The War Against Germany” and “The War Against Japan.”

COURT OF HONOR

Extending from the steps to the tower is the Court of Honor with its reflecting pool. Engraved on the north and south walls of the Court are the names, rank, organization and the State of 1,723 of Americans Missing of the Army and Army Air Forces. These men gave their lives in the service of their Country in this region, but their remains have not been recovered or identified. Their names include men from every State of the Union (except Alaska) and the District of Columbia. Over these names in the north wall, with a Dutch translation in the south wall, is carved:

HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF AMERICANS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY AND WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES

Toward the east ends of the walls are these inscriptions also:

NORTH WALL :

TO YOU FROM FAILING HANDS WE THROW THE TORCH
BE YOURS TO HOLD IT HIGH

(from John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”)

Wall of Honor
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

SOUTH WALL:

HONOR IS THEIRS WHO KNEW
THE PATH OF HONOR

Wall of Honor
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

Without confirmed information to the contrary, a War Department Administrative Review Board established the official date of death of those commemorated on the Tablets to the Missing as one year and a day from the date on which the individual was placed in Missing in action status. The trees planted in lawns before the Walls of the Missing are Japanese Cherries (Prunus serrulata Sekiyama).

THE TOWER AND CHAPEL

The bronze group standing before the tower at the East End of the Court of Honor was designed by Joseph Kiselewski, of New York City and cast in Milan by the Battaglia foundries. The mourning figure, the doves, the new shoot from the war destroyed tree are appositely described by the inscription on the stone base:

NEW LIFE FROM WAR’S DESTRUCTION PROCLAIMS
MAN’S IMMORTALITY AND HOPE FOR PEACE

The west face of the tower bears this inscription from a free translation of Pericles’ oration as recorded by Thucydides:

EACH FOR HIS OWN MEMORIAL
EARNED PRAISE THAT WILL NEVER DIE
AND WITH IT
THE GRANDEST OF ALL SEPULCHRES
NOT THAT IN WHICH
HIS MORTAL BONES ARE LAID
BUT A HOME
IN THE MINDS OF MEN

The Tower and Statue
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

The tower rises 101 ft. above the Court of Honor. Its exterior walls, like those of the Court of Honor and the entrance pavilions, are built of English Portland stone. On the walls flanking it to the left and right are the names of significant battles fought by the soldiers and airmen commemorated:

MAASTRICHT * EINDHOVEN * GRAVE * NIJMEGEN * ARNHEM * JULICH *

LINNICH * GEILENKIRCHEN * KREFELD * VENLO * RHEINBERG * COLOGNE

* WESEL * RUHR

On the north side of the tower is the observation platform which affords a wide panorama view of the graves area and surrounding countryside. The entrance to the chapel, reached after mounting a few steps, is on the east, the burial area side, of the tower. The doors are of bronze fabricated by H. H. Martyn of Cheltenham, England and bear in outline a Tree of Life. Above them is engraved:

IN MEMORY OF THE VALOR AND THE SACRIFICES
WHICH HALLOW THIS SOIL

The Tower with the entrance to the Chapel
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

The interior of the chapel is 52 feet high. Suspended from the ceiling is the handsome lighting fixture presented by the Dutch people and consisting of a royal crown surrounded by tiny lights recalling the firmament above. A silver altar vase and wrought iron candelabrum ere also gifts of the Dutch people. The vase bears the inscription:

PRO MUNDI LIBERTATE MORTUIS
(To those who died for a free world)

The altar, itself of oak, bears the inscription:

HONOR * FAITH * VALOR

Mounted on the south wall of the chapel are three U.S. National flags, a Christian Chapel flag and a Jewish Chapel flag. Following are the inscriptions in the interior of the memorial:

EAST WALL:

1941-1945
IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER SONS
AND IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES
THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


Inside the Chapel
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

NORTH WALL:

O GOD WHO ART THE AUTHOR OF PEACE AND LOVER OF CONCORD
DEFEND US THY HUMBLE SERVANT IN ALL ASSAULTS OF OUR ENEMIES
THAT WE SURELY TRUSTING IN THY DEFENSE
MAY NOT FEAR THE POWER OF ANY ADVERSARIES
(Peace Prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.)

SOUTH WALL:

O LORD SUPPORT US ALL THE DAY LONG
UNTIL THE SHADOWS LENGTHEN AND THE EVENING COMES
AND THE FEVER OF LIFE IS OVER AND OUR WORK IS DONE
THEN IN THY MERCY GRANT US A SAFE LODGING, A HOLY REST
AND PEACE AT THE LAST
(From the “Works of Cardinal Newman.”)

Atop the Tower is a carillon which was presented to the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial by the American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam (AMVETS) in conjunction with the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation and dedicated as a memorial to those U.S. War Dead who made the supreme sacrifice in the cause of freedom.

GRAVES AREA

The burial area is divided into 16 plots, lettered from A to P, separated by the broad central mall and by grass paths. The 8,301 headstones are arranged in parallel arcs sweeping across the broad green lawn. Of the 8,308 Dead who gave their lives in their Country’s service, from every State in the Union, The District of Columbia, England, Canada and Mexico, 106 are Unknowns. In no less than 40 instances two brothers lie buried side by side, while one headstone marks the common grave of two Unknowns. At the top of the hill, on the axis of the mall, is the flagstaff.

VISITORS’ BUILDING

The Visitors’ Building is located on the south side of the Court of Honor. Within it is a comfortably furnished lounge where visitors may obtain burial locations or other information from the cemetery staff or simply pause to relax and refresh themselves.

Wall of Missing
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

PLANTINGS

Characteristically American tulip poplars (Liriodendrom Tulipifera) line the central mall. Prominent are beds of rhododendron which produce their wealth of blossom just before Memorial Day each year. Among the other plants at the cemetery are the hawthorn hedges (crataegus oxycantha), as well as the forested areas of various species of oak, maple and hawthorn. The curved beds north and south of the memorial are filled with Polyantha Roses framed within a copying of dwarf box and backed with a holly hedge.

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in United States service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War. While Waterloo NY was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Honor Guard on one of the First Memorial Days on the Margraten Cemetery

Every year the American Military Cemetery in Margraten celebrates Memorial Day. T he first Memorial Day was May 30th, 1945, just 25 days after the Liberation. In that meager time, the people of South Limburg collected 20 truckloads of flowers from 60 villages and nearly 200 people worked all night to place wreaths and flowers on more than 17,000 graves. Sixty years later people still place flowers on the graves.

Honor Guard on one of the First Memorial Days on the Margraten Cemetery

Honor Guard on one of the First Memorial Days on the Margraten Cemetery

Sunday May 8, 2005, President George W. Bush visited the American Military Cemetery in Margraten, it is the only American war cemetery in the Netherlands . It was the first time in history that a President visited the American Military Cemetery in Margraten. President Bush and Dutch Queen Beatrix laid wreaths after a salute fired by a guard of honour and the playing of the Last Post.


The Dutch Queen Beatrix and President Bush in Margraten on May 8, 2005
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

“We commemorate a great victory for liberty. And the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David underscore the terrible price we paid for that victory,” President Bush said.

From the left to the right: Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende, Queen Beatrix, Laura Bush, President George W. Bush Jr. in Margraten, on May 8, 2005 (Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende paid tribute to the fallen US soldiers, saying “they gave us the most precious gift – freedom”.

Military planes flew overhead in a “missing man” formation, where one plane breaks away from the group to signify a fallen comrade.

4 Veterans of the 82nd Airborne Division next to the grave of a fallen Comrade
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

To President Bush the most important lesson of World War II is that ‘no power is as strong as the power of freedom.’ “There is no soldier as strong as one who fights for freedom,” he said. The US President honoured those soldiers who gave their lives in the battle against the tyranny of Nazi Germany, but also expressed appreciation to the Dutch families who adopted the graves of the American soldiers in the fall of 1945 at the Margraten cemetery. According to President Bush, free Europe after World War II was built on the courage and sacrifices of the soldiers who liberated the continent.


Veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)


My mom and me talking to a Veteran
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)


Veterans watching the Memorial Day Ceremony
(Picture Courtesy of Rick Demas)

Sources:
American Battle Monuments Commission (abmc.gov)