Remembrance of the Dead (Dodenherdenking in Dutch) is held annually on 4 May in the Netherlands. Initially, it was only to remember the dead of World War II. But, since 2011 the official text of the Memorandum for Remembrance Day on 4 May is as follows: During the national commemoration of Remembrance Day, we remember all victims—civilians and soldiers—who have been killed or murdered in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or anywhere else in the world in war situations or during peace-keeping operations since the outbreak of the Second World War.
For this piece, I am reverting to the initial meaning of the Remembrance of the Dead—and will remember those who were killed or murdered during the war.
It is the war you did not ask for.
You only want to live your life. You wanted to finish school, or just even start school.
You wanted a job, a livelihood for you and your family.
You wanted a house, a holiday, to speak your mind, and most of all you wanted to be free.
You did not want to be arrested for speaking out or for being critical of the regime.
You didn’t want to be deported and sent to your death.
You didn’t want to fight in a foreign land and face an evil never seen before. Yet, you did to make sure that I had the freedom, I was entitled to. I now despair sometimes because your sacrifice is forgotten, and the freedom you fought for is now in danger of being taken away.
Those who want to take away that freedom get offended by trivial things. Yet they don’t get offended by your death or the death of the millions murdered in the camps. All they wanted to do was cancel everything they disagreed with and erase the parts of history that offended them.
In Margraten, 8301 men are buried in the American War cemetery, and another two thousand or so are remembered in memorials.
8301, not just a number or mathematical equation.
8301 sacrifices made for the freedom of others.
8301 young lives ended by violence.
8301 heroes.
8301 reasons why we should never forget what hate, ignorance, and intolerance can do.
8301 although a large number it is only a small percentage of the overall sacrifices made.
8301 men whose futures were taken.
8301 who found their final resting place in Margraten, the Netherlands.
Below are just a few of them.
Sgt Howard Cohen enlisted in New York City, New York on 10 April 1943. He attended high school for four years.
The aeroplane with number 42-51098 was hit by flak and went down over the target. On its way down it knocked the wing off aeroplane 42-52447. Both ships went down and two to five parachutes were seen but it was not sure from which airplane.
Eight of the crew members were killed in the crash. They were buried in a mass grave next to the wreckage, together with casualties of other crashed planes. Lt Joe Guastella died in the POW Hospital of Altengrabe on 19 August 1944.
An investigation in October 1946 revealed that between August and September 1944, four American planes crashed in the area. In some cases bodies were buried near the crashed plane, another time they were buried in mass graves. Some of the remains could be identified, and others could not.
Also, a proper investigation wasn’t possible—due to political restrictions because the area was in Russian-occupied territory.
Pvt Harold E. Peterman enlisted in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 1 May 1943. Prior to serving with the Army, he was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in Harrisburg. He went overseas in December 1943, after training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and Fort Benning, Georgia. Pvt Peterman died in Operation Market Garden. He was buried at American War Cemetery Molenhoek, the Netherlands on 28 September 1944, B-1-11.
PETERMAN, Harold E., Private, 505th Parachute Infantry Regt, 82nd Airborne Division, U.S. Army, Service #33508587, State of Entry: Pennsylvania, Death: 28-September-1944, Plot F, Row 4, Grave 13, Purple Heart, World War II
Staff Sgt John Zito volunteered for the Army of the United States at Fort Devens, Massachusetts on 9 February 1943. He attended high school for two years and was a machinist apprentice before he joined the Army.
The aircraft was lost during intense fighter attacks by approximately 100 FW 190s and ME 109s at about 1240 hours. Due to the fact that the entire squadron was lost during these encounters, there are no particulars available on the attack and subsequent loss of this aircraft.
Seven crew members were killed. Six of them were initially buried at the community cemetery of Ketzin: Taylor, Lynch, Bone, Kelly, Firof and one unknown (which must have been the pilot Thumlert). The fate of Zito is unknown. 14 January 1945 is listed as his date of death and he is mentioned on the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial.
The two crew members that were taken as POWs were Brown and Cardone.
At the beginning of April 1945, prisoners from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp were transferred to the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. One of the three trains used for this purpose was liberated by the Russian army near the village of Tröbitz. Many passengers did not survive this train journey. Of those who survived the train journey, a large number died from the effects of a typhus epidemic that broke out. The deceased were buried in a common grave behind the management barracks of the “Hansa” quarry.
Emanuel Huisman and his wife, Elisabeth Huisman-Lees, were interred in this common grave.
The burial of dead concentration camp prisoners by German civilians was ordered by the 82nd Airborne at Wöbbelin in May 1945.
Never forget what evil men are capable of inflicting on their fellow men.
On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz was liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army during the Vistula–Oder Offensive. Even though the majority of the prisoners had been forced onto a death march, about 7,000 had been left behind.
The Soviet soldiers were shocked by what they saw. The date is recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Rather then going into the details of that day, because so much has already been written about it, I just want to offer just a few reflective words in a poem titled “We all say Amen”
We all say Amen.
We all have the same colour blood.
We all have the same organs.
We all wear the same clothes.
We all eat when we are hungry.
We all drink when we are thirsty.
We all cry when we are sad.
We all laugh when we hear a joke.
We all pray to the same God, although perhaps in a different way.
We all love in the same way, but maybe in another configuration.
We all say Amen.
Yet it is these few differences you chose to single us out.
We were Jews, Jehovah Witness, Gay, Roma, Disabled or just not in agreement with you.
We all say Amen
Instead of embracing these differences that make us unique, you chose indifference .
Instead of Love, you chose hate and ignorance.
Instead of joy, you chose bitterness and fear.
You wanted everyone to be the same. Have just one identity.
An identity only so relatively few could identify with.
May 4 is the designated day in the Netherlands to remember all those who died in WWII and other conflicts.
At 8PM , 2 minutes of silence will be observed across the country. A few yeas ago I saw a picture that really touched me , It was of a pizza delivery boy getting of his bike at 8 and stopped 2 minutes to remember the dead. It still brings tears to me eyes today, not out of sadness but out of joy. It is good to know that the younger generations still know the value of respect. Especially for those who died for them as they did for me.
So many have died, in concentration camps, in battle in Europe and in the pacific, resistance fighters there are just too many to name. It is a task impossible for any one person to do.
I will remember all those millions who died during WWII. They died because of some evil men wanted their ideologies spread all over the world. I say ideologies but they were really idiocrasies.
I will remember them via a few names of brave men who are buried in ‘The Netherlands American Cemetery’ in Margraten.
10,022 names are connected to the cemetery. 8301 who are buried there, the other names are of those who are remembered and whose bodies weren’t found or were returned home. There is one name there that is special to me, Pierre de Klein, my dad. He did not die in WWII, he died in 2015 but he always had wanted to be a professional soldier. He did fulfill his military service, but his mother discouraged him of becoming a full time soldier like his Father before him, his Father was killed in WWII when my dad was only 5. The management of The Netherlands American Cemetery were so kind to allow his to scatter my Father’s ashes at the Cemetery making his remains to be 8302.
Remembering.
Aldy Willie D. Technician Fourth Grade 34139177 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Mississippi 10th Tank Battalion, 5th Armored Division.
Alston Tullos Private 38416283 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Texas 2nd Quartermaster Battalion
Zuidema John A. Technical Sergeant 36704981 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Illinois 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division
Youngblood Eugene P. Corporal 35600074 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Ohio 316th Fighter Control Squadron
Wright Richard D. Second Lieutenant O-808209 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Massachusetts 367th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomber Group, Heavy
Wright Richard J. Second Lieutenant O2060633 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Michigan 78th Squadron, 435th Troop Carrier Group
Winters Clinton First Lieutenant O-751514 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Missouri 506th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group
Winton Merbell C. Technician Fifth Grade 12034147 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery New Jersey 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division
Winzey Patrick M. Staff Sergeant 32983248 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery New York 615th Bomber Squadron, 401st Bomber Group, Heavy
Alexander George S. Second Lieutenant O-869037 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Texas 714th Bomber Squadron, 448th Bomber Group, Heavy
Alexander Harry N. First Lieutenant O-767721 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery California 566th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, Heavy
They gave their today for our tomorrow.
Our tomorrow was sacred to them.
They gave their today for our tomorrow..
Sacrificing their own lives for those they would never meet.
They gave their today for our tomorrow..
A tomorrow which we should cherish even more.
They gave their today for our tomorrow.
Their bravery should forever be remembered and ingrained in our hearts.
They gave their today for our tomorrow.
To those who gave their today for my tomorrow, I bow humbly and respectfully and hope I was worth your sacrifice.
History of Sorts 
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