DALLAS (AP) — In the decades since June West Blount’s older brother was killed in World War II, her thoughts have never left her mind about her kind, artistic brother who loved to play boogie-woogie on the piano. There, she was delighted to learn that he was also remembered by a Dutch couple who regularly visited his monument. Dutch cemetery.
“It’s nice to know someone is out there,” said Brandt, 93, who lives near Houston.
She was introduced to Lisa and Guido Myers in the summer through a new initiative aimed at increasing connections between the families of those buried in World War II cemeteries and remembered on the Wall of the Missing and the Dutch nationals who adopted their respective families.
This project was promoted by “The Monuments Men” author robert edsel His latest book, “Remember Us,” tells the story of an adoption program at a Dutch American cemetery. His Dallas-based Monument Men and Women Foundation In cooperation with a Dutch foundation responsible for adoption, eternal promise project It has a searchable database of names of U.S. military personnel buried and remembered in the cemetery.
“We want to find as many American families as possible and connect them with Dutch adopters,” Edsel said.
Ton Hermes, president of the Margraten American Cemetery Adoption Foundation, said that while there is an adopted child in each of the approximately 8,300 graves and 1,700 missing person markers at the cemetery near the village of Margraten, only about 20 to 30 percent of them have contact with military relatives.
When the Meyers adopted Army Air Force Staff Sergeant Marker several years ago, William Durham “WD” West Jr. had only rudimentary information about the 20-year-old boy whose B-24 bomber was shot down in the North Sea during a mission to Nazi Germany and whose body was never recovered.
Through their conversations with Blunt, they learned that West was “a very creative soul,” Lisa Meyers said.
“It obviously makes a big difference in how you remember someone,” she said.
Brandt said her brother liked to draw and play the piano by ear, and although he was six years younger, the two were “best friends” growing up in DeRider, a small city in western Louisiana.
“It was very hard when he left because we loved being together,” Brandt said.
Blount’s daughter, Alison Blount Woods, said it warms her heart to know that Myers is watching over the marker. Woods met them on a recent trip and hopes their family ties will continue into future generations.
Lisa Myers said the cemetery is one of many reminders of World War II in the southern Netherlands. liberated by allied forces September 1944, after more than four years of Nazi occupation.
“We really feel how vitally important it is to remember these things and honor the sacrifices they made for us,” she said.
Meyer and his wife, who have a 1-year-old son, visit the West landmark about once a month with flowers.
Hermes said the program has been so popular that there is a waiting list for graves and markers to be installed.
Fran Loebloeks, executive director of the Dutch Adoption Foundation, said the names of missing people on the wall were made available for adoption in 2008. The formal adoption process for the tomb began to take shape during the 1945 Margraten City Council meeting.
“They were coming together to find an answer to the question of how to thank the liberators who are no longer alive to thank them,” Edsel said.
Many of the early adopters took on the graves of people they knew.
“When the Dutch people heard that one of their soldiers had been killed in action, they decided to take over his grave, place flowers and correspond with his wife and mother in the United States,” Hermes said.
Mr Roblox said many of the graves, including the one that has been passed down through his family, were maintained by the same family after the war. He said Army Pfc. Henry Wolfe stayed on his grandfather’s farm and became “like a son” to him.
Mr. Wolf’s grave was passed down from Mr. Lobruks’ grandfather to his mother, and now to his sister, who plans to pass it on to her daughter.
“That grave will remain in the family,” he said.
So far, more than 300 families have requested contact with adoptees, Edsel said.
“And we’re just getting started,” he said.
