I usually look for a good story to tell each Memorial Day, a story of sacrifice and honor. Several years ago, I looked up information on Robert “Bobby” Mitchell, my husband’s uncle. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in World War II, but Chuck knew little about it, other than his mother’s story about a Fall day when a car pulled to their curb and two Army soldiers approached their Augusta, Georgia, home, where the two sisters lived with their mother along with their baby sons.

You can find what I found here. It describes Robert Mitchell’s actions in World War II from the Normandy Invasion to the campaign called Market Garden, where he fell. He was in the 508th Parachute Infantry, and their story is much like the 506ths in the book and movie series “Band of Brothers.” Whereas the 506th was called the Screaming Eagles or “We Stand Alone”, the 508th were the Red Devils or “The Fury from the Sky.”

Now for the rest of the story… A few months ago, Robert Mitchell’s son, Alex, who is also Chuck’s first cousin, called and let me know that someone in the Mitchell family read my blog post about Alex’s father. Alex had not seen it before. I thought Chuck had shared it with him, but apparently not. Anyway, Alex called to thank me and to share more information.

Several years ago, he and Eileen visited his father’s grave at the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, and they made a surprising discovery. Someone had placed flowers on his grave. They learned that a local family had done it.

In 1945, at the end of the war, an official of the Margraten village suggested that families and individuals adopt each of the graves. Three-quarters of a century later, the men in those 20,000 graves remain adopted. Many citizens of the Netherlands and Belgium adopted them, passing the adoptions down through family generations. In 2021, according to Wikipedia, there was a waiting list of those who wished to take up any lapsed adoptions. I found most of the information about the cemetery and the adoptions on Wikipedia.

What a beautiful tribute. These Dutch people keep the memory of these men and women alive in their hearts. The family who adopted Bobby told how their deceased grandfather led the effort.

Each year, there is a Dutch Memorial Day commemoration which takes place in the cemetery. In 2005, President George W. Bush became the first American president to visit the cemetery and speak. He said during his commemoration speech:

On this peaceful May morning we commemorate a great victory for liberty, and the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David underscore the terrible price we pay for that victory. For the Americans who rest here, Dutch soil provides a fitting home. It was from a Dutch port that many of our pilgrim fathers first sailed for America. It was a Dutch port that gave the American flag its first gun salute. It was the Dutch who became one of the first foreign nations to recognize the independence of the new United States of America. And when American soldiers returned to this continent to fight for freedom, they were led by a President (Roosevelt) who owed his family name to this great land.

Once again, we Americans pause to remember our fallen. These Americans paid the price of freedom for this country. Let’s not forget it! If Europeans can remember, we should, too!