Americans, Europeans gather to
pay tribute to WWII dead in Netherlands
Story and photos by Gregory
Piatt, Stars and Stripes
First Lt. Mary Muldoon of the
114th Combat Support Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn., looks at the names of U.S. military
personnel missing in action from World War II on walls at the U.S. Military Cemetery in
Margraten, Netherlands. |
MARGRATEN, Netherlands — A slight wind carried the music of coming home and
patriotic tunes as Americans and Europeans came to pay tribute to those who fought and
died in World War II.
Children ran between the grave markers, making sure the flowers lying on the graves
were straight. Veterans cried at tombstones for buddies who died long ago. And military
personnel from surrounding U.S. installations in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium
stood at attention.
"This was a very touching ceremony," said Air Force Senior Master Sgt.
Vernard Dicker of Kleine Broegel Air Base in Belgium. "It’s an honor to be here,
and it’s encouraging to see that our fallen comrades are still looked after all these
years.
"It sends an extra chill down your spine."
It was the Memorial Day ceremony at the U.S. Military Cemetery that brought out about
5,000 people to remember the 8,300 GIs buried there. They were mostly GIs who fought
Germans in the region.
Harry Hudec of Cleveland, Ohio, served with many of the 508th Parachute Infantry
Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division that lay in the peaceful cemetery outside of
Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Harry Hudec, who served with
the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, weeps at the grave of
his buddy Cpl. Hugh "Rosey" Akins. Hudec, of Cleveland, Ohio, was one of 45
veterans from the 508th who visited the Memorial Day ceremony at the U.S. Military
Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. |
Dressed in a Khaki safari-type jacket with 508th patches and military medals, Hudec was
an approached by several people, Dutch and American, who thanked him for his effort during
the war.
Hudec then made his way over to the grave of Cpl. Hugh "Rosey" Akins, who
died on Oct, 4, 1944. As he grabbed the stone, tears flowed and he bent over and kissed
the top of the crucifix.
"God bless you, boy," Hudec said as he looked at the stone, clutching the top
of it.
"It’s an honor to pay tribute to those who worked so hard in the past and
gave their lives," said Air Force Maj. Laura Koch, an AWACS pilot from nearby
Gielenkirchen Air Base in Germany.
Army Lt. Col. Rick Jenkins, stationed at AFNORTH in Brunssum, the Netherlands, was glad
he brought his three young children to the ceremony.
"It’s particularly special being in Europe and sharing this with our Dutch
and European neighbors," Jenkins said.
Air Force Staff Sgts. Delbert
Janes, left, and Danile Larpi stand among the military graves with their wives, family and
friends during Sunday's ceremony at the U.S. Military Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. |
Murray Pulver, who was with the 30th Infantry Division that liberated the piece of
ground where the cemetery is now located, was moved by all the ceremony pomp, the
patriotic fervor and the fighter jet fly-by.
"It was so impressive, the most impressive ceremony I have ever attended,"
said Pulver, from Niagara Falls, NY.
Army Maj. Mary Muldoon of the 114th Combat Support Hospital in Minn., came with her
father, a member of the 508th PIR.
Muldoon was looking at the walls of names of the 1,700 GIs missing in action when she
summed up the feeling of being with those dead and those still living, who fought nearly
60 years ago.
"I am honored to be with these men," she said.
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