Sleep well lost......

Well, that sounded better in my head :-)  I Did sleep, a whole six hours last night. As a friend pointed out, for me, that's almost a coma. ROFL!!!  All kidding aside, I don't remember anything between 11 o'clock last night and 4.30 this morning, and I'm full of vinegar, so I have to assume I spent it sleeping.... Right?

 I came home yesterday around 3 and have been buried on the couch with nothing more than my laptop, a binder with information to sort thru and a pen and notepad, for those quick notes I don't want to open a pages document for, nor could my laptop handle the load.... She's only 11 years old, give her a break :-)

I've been jumping thru websites trying to find all the parts I want to incorporate into the Story behind the Star memorials. I plan on writing them on the newly "accounted for" Unknowns Soldiers, so I'm trying to find the "filling" between their last mission and being accounted for, which needs different information than I usually try to find, hense, the scouring of the internet.... and  

I HAVE FOUND SO MUCH GOOD SHIT!!!! For now, I've been skimming and saving. A LOT of saving, and bookmarking.  I know I should slow down and put stuff away as I find it, but the way my brain functions (on rubberbands and rabbitfluff currently) I won't remember where I was going with any of it, so it's best to do a quick store and sort thru it at a later time. Which will probably translate into "tonight", but who cares..... LOL!

No kidding though, I found a website referencing a book this lady wrote about the temporary cemetery Grand Failly, just south of the French Border from Bastogne, with pictures of the early graves. SO AWESOME! I found several different parts of the NARA website I've never seen, or knew existed, but I'll be visiting. You can bet your boots on that. There's a website that is called "The unwritten record",  I found contact information (VERY dangerous) voor de Army Quartermasters......

I found...... to quote Howard Carter..."Wonderful things!"   and I promise, as soon as I have everything sorted, I'll post the list as "general information - Military" and hope that the internetpolice doesn't yank the links, because there'll be a bunch.

I also found something that made me giggle and shake my head.... When taking pictures at Ardennes Military Cemetery, I saw one cross that read: Here rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier, known but to God.  Now, this puzzled me, because all the others I've registered, read "Comrade in Arms", so it was on my list of questions for when I go back to Ardennes for Section C and D.... While glancing thru the information I was saving, I saw one part that explained it....

On the American Battle Monument site was a section on Stones:  Turns out the wording on the markers for Unknown Soldiers, changed between WW-I and WW-II. It changed from Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier in World War I to Here Rests in Honored Glory a Comrade in Arms....   Soooo, did they find one in a back room somewhere or did someone have the wrong example?  Not sure, but still interesting. I don't mean to be disrespectful, that's not what this is, it just seemed in a sea of like crosses, this one stood out and to find out that it isn't quite correct while everything is regulated within an inch of its life and even the bushes don't dare grow outside of their paramiter ..... just went sideways in my brain..

So, lucky duck who's working the office when I touch down in a couple of weeks.... one less question :-)

August 2, 2025

PUZZLE SOLVED.....

The main puzzle bit, was put in place by the kind help of Ardennes Cemetery.... Thank you Bert for allowing my questions and graciously taking the time to answer.  

While putting pictures with the memorials in Find a Grave I found 2 crosses, side by side and in between was a plaque in the ground with the names of 4 soldiers, their rank and unit.  I took the picture and moved to the next marker, but it kept niggling......

 And anyone that knows me even a little bit, knows that it's a recipe for trouble aka research :-)   

That didn't pan out as hoped, so I contacted the Ardennes Cemetery to see if they could tell me who put the plaque there, and when and why..... 

Received an answer almost immediately. 

- The Soldiers WERE identified  - in hindsight, evident in the inscription omitting " known only to God"

- The remains were comingled and therefor buried together 

- The plaque was put in place when the markers were, between 1947 and 1952.

- The practice is common throughout the ABMC cemeteries - I had not come across one (hence the niggling), but I will be more vigilant on my next visit to Margraten on Friday

SO, I'm happy and going quietly back to researching..... Just wanted to share this real quick

July 28, 2025

Well, that didn't go as planned.....

but it turned out alright.....

Remember I said I was going to get back to the pictures on the 18th, last month? Yeah, never happened. Hit a bit of a slump and didn't get back to it until a couple of days ago.

I put together the edited pictures with the information I already had prepared so I could keep track of the actual picture number for retrieval if anybody asked...... that was a bit more involved than what I thought it would be, so that slowed me up some..... but, it will be worth it, because I now have a better way to track the information, or to add information... Health didn't cooperate, and that slowed me up even more, but... I think I'm possibly, maybe on track again :-) So.... Thursday, I started posting the pictures, and I just got done about 2 hours ago....

Got all memorials "pictured" for Plot A. Weeeeeelllll the ones I took pictures of, anyway, because there's about 30 that I missed as in I missed A WHOLE ROW at a time, so that's going on the next trip.  While posting the pictures, I found there were 2 markers that didn't have a memorial, so I added them, and started the research on the soldiers and this is where I'm happily going to be losing some sleep, because it's a puzzle.....    Let me run you thru my process, such as it is:   

- Between the 2 crosses listing TWO COMRADES IN ARMS was a placque with 4 names, so I started looking for them......  

- DPAA site didn't know any of the 4 surnames names listed, so I started to look around a bit more as to different ways of searching, I searched for the bomb group listed on the placque.... nothing: searched by first name.... again, nothing and just for giggles, I put in an X-number from the list of memorials I was working from, and it came back with a name, and a wealth on intel.  So. one more way to find information :-)   I REALY REALLY R.E.A.L.L.Y! have to yank my leash, here, because now, all I want to do is see what I can find on the few X-numbers that I have, but Back to the intended targ ets.... Since I don't have the X-numbers, I can't find them that way so I'm storing the information for later.

 - Newspaper articles will come next:  Just googled the name, added WW2 to it and waited to see what shook out..... A couple of websites I can add to the research information for general information, (limited)information on the mission they perished on, the name of the bomber, some family members and final resting places were what I found, so that's a lot. Fun and useful stuff and an indication of where I will spending my time as soon as I'm "done" with Plot B!

Now, even though I am happy as a lark with all the information already found, what holds me back from doing anything with it, other than putting it together per Soldier to put with the memorial, eventually, is the fact that they are not mentioned anywhere on the DPAA site. One I can see, if family has not been notified, but all 4 seems a bit awkward.... So tomorrow, I will look into the site a little more, since I'm sure there is more than one feature I've missed discovering :-) 

July 26, 2025 

Ardennes American Cemetery

 Yup! I'm "working" on the third Cemetery that is within driving distance.

David starting mapping the 792 Unknown Soldiers of Ardennes. I didn't realized that he had indeed started, until I saw that he had 182 photo requests logged, so I've got some catching up to do.

At this point, I want to also cover the history of the Cemeteries, so I may add individual pages for each. I'm not sure how many pages I can add to one blog, so they may all end up as their own section on one page, but the intent is, either way, to cover the cemeteries seperate from the hints and tips and the progress of finding things.

 Buuuuuut..... :-)

Ardennes.

I planned and plotted, and postponed, planned some more and postponed, mainly for health reasons, but I finally got to go this week. It was SO GOOD! Every cemetery is the same, as in the solemness, the quiet and the sheer amount on crosses, marking a lost life, and at the same time they all have a different feel in the back ground, making each a different experience.

I actually had help this time. I conned a friend of mine into going with me, and it made the day go by faster. It was not like it was when Mike went with me, and it never will be like that again, but it was nice. It wasn't really hot, which helped, I had actually brought the picnic basket, not just packed it (great help) and because it was the 2 of us, I actually took a break, which made it so that I could actually spend more time.

The sheer number of Unknowns is staggering for this cemetery vs Henri Chapelle and Margraten. David has been putting up memorials every day since May, and last count was a little over half of the Soldiers..... It's a job, for sure, but a job we both do with love. Not just to memorialize those that gave their all, but for the families, so they may know where their loved ones were while not in their care. Some may never be accounted for, and now, they too, will have a place among the fallen on Find a Grave. 

The day started pretty much like I always do. I printed the list of photo requests by section and was going to go down the list, and do my thing, until I realised that there were so many not yet on that list, that it would become a cluster to keep track of the ones "done" vs the ones not plotted yet, so I changed gears for this cemetery. We each took a section, and started at row 7, and just went down the line, photographing the Unknown. We each got one section done, and it took us about 6 hours. Between us, we took 500 pictures, so I'm spending the next couple of weeks editing, cataloging, researching and posting. We did not cover 500 graves, because..... overviews, doubles because the first one got flubbed-up, sights that caught our eyes, and generally getting distracted by something, so, yes.... 500 pictures, not that many markers to post.  

As with Henri Chapelle and Margraten, I enticipate that once all the memorials of the Unknown have a picture, I will have to go back to improve on some of them, but that's ok. It's a nice place to be, and even if it is just not to take pictures, I will visit again, and again.

Check out the hints and tips, because I talked to the Super-Intendant, and learned some new things, which also changes my way of doing research a little.... for the better :-)

For right now, I'm going to the zoo, so I will pick up where I left off, tomorrow, and add that information on research.

July 12, 2025

 

PS:  I forgot to tell you something really cool!  While I was documenting the Unknown Soldiers, a couple came up to me, and started asking questions and it was so gratifying to be able to answer them, give them a little bit of "extra" history about the cemetery and how they came to be, besides the solemness of the place by walking around. As it happens, I was standing at the markter that read: "Here rest in Honored Glory THIRTEEN comrades in arms  Known but to God" when the couple approached me.

I had just gotten to that marker, and it took a couple of double takes when the gentleman asked me how that could be, that there were Thirteen Soldiers buried under one marker..... I'm still not quite over it, to be honest. I DID promise myself that I would find out, if/when they were identified, and to keep track of the newly accounted for on the DPAA website.  I told him, that sometimes, the men found together, were buried in the same grave by the people that initially found them, but also, that the prison-camps would bury their dead prisonors in mass graves, so when the Quartermaster Corps found them, they would try to seperate them, but that was sometimes not an option, and the Soldiers would be transported as a group so there could be an attempt made in identifying them. If that was unsuccessful, the men would be buried together again... With todays DNA testing, and a different methodology for identifying remains, I told them, there is a fair chance that at least some of them will be accounted for, but when that would be, I could not tell. I told them I did not work for the cemetery, and was just an interested volunteer who wanted to do right by the Soldiers who did not get to go home, that I did research for those who asked, and for those accounted for when I could.

 

Counted!

I kinda fell into this rabbit hole thru absolutely no fault of my own...... Yeah, I wouldn't be buying that, either :-)  

But seriously. It never consiously registered that the Unknown Soldiers and those on the Walls of the Missing were still actively persued. I mean, I knew if remains were found, they would be looked at, and identification would be attempted, but that was pretty much the extend of my knowledge and I'm "blaming" my new friend David Zimmerman for enlightening me, and setting me on this path, of wanting to know the stories behind the markers that so heartbreakingly read: 

Comrade in Arms  Known but to God.

You see, he started making memorials for all these soldiers on Find a Grave, and he hit my radar when he entered Henri Chapelle aka my neck of the woods.  I took on the challenge of taking pictures of the markers, and started researching the X-numbers he mentioned on 3 of the markers.  

Aaaaaand that brings me to the rabbit hole! 

In talking to the office at Henri Chapelle, I learned things.... and when I learn things, it's like there's a trapdoor attached, because I want to learn more :-)  So I went to the DPAA website, armed with the list of the Wall of the Missing for Henri Chapelle, to see if the recoveries would mention the grave the now "accounted for" soldiers had occupied. That's when I found out, this particular rabbit hole has junctions, lots of them! :-)

The good part is, that I'm finding more and more websites to share, and ways to research Military records and Soldiers, as well as units.... and I hope that finding all this out, will help me with his next project.... David is putting memorials up for the almost 800 Unknowns in Ardennes Military Cemetery.  I'm doing this happily and voluntarily, with full understanding that it's going to take a lot of time, and I'm quietly freaking out about the scale of it.....  (I have 3 days planned, so far, trying to get as many days in as possible before Fall, since my little slip of a car does not do well on slick (mountain) roads, and the old lady driving it, sometimes does not do well driving in the dark on backroads :-) So I'll be taking a break starting when the sun sets around 5 until spring....  The upside of winter? Lights inside come on early, enhancing the cozyness and the possibility of doing research online and working on putting it in some what of an order :-)

I'm sure if you spent any time on the blog at all, you're already aware....  I get sidetracked easy, sorry.  Back to what you came for :-)

I discovered that a lot of the "accounted for" are from accidental finds. I thinks it's awesome, and completely over the top, that they are identified and brought home after more than 80 years. But it also made me realise how many places don't see a whole lot of human traffic and with 1409 people per square mile in The Netherlands,  1006 in Belgium and 625 for Germany, it all starts to make sense.....  and compared to the US ( 57/Iowa and 94 in general), this continent feels crowded :-) 

So, as a start, I'm trying to findout where the x-numbers are kept, and what information is available for the Unknown Soldiers buried in "my" cemeteries, so I can keep an eye on the accounted for and pass the information on to David to update the memorials, or slip the information in as part of the posted picture.... If you know, PLEASE share your knowledge in the comments, otherwise it will hit this page if I ever find out :-)

I found out about a file that covers A LOT of information on a persons military service. I've seen it called the "death file" and some acronym that made so much sense that I can't remember, so I'll be googling "death file" soon and hope I find the site I found it on the first time.. Pretty sure everyone has had this happen... you follow one thread, thru so many website, you have no clue where you came thru and somewhere in the travels was a very interesting website you want to get back to, but there is no way to retrace your steps.... Yeah, that's what happened there too.

And there is, of course the DPAA website where the first notification of an Accounted for Soldier is made. Sometimes they give everything in the first sitting, sometimes it's a bit of a search to find it all, but overall, it's interesting and SO good that the soldiers are still coming home.  Whether done by volunteers of paid employees, I can't help but think "Thank you" every time I find a memorial... 

In a small way, I like to help families that do not have the chance to come see where their loved one was being cared for. There's that absolute thrill when you can put the Soldiers' story together from enlistment, thru his campaigns, his death and the places that were part of his travel before ending up in a Military Cemetery...  I enjoy that as much as when I find family, because I KNOW that by me putting those loose ends together, a family member has a chance to fill in the story of the Soldier that didn't come home.

The reason I'm hunting down the x-numbers, is that sometimes in the announcement, the x-number is given, but not the cemetery the soldier was buried at, or if the cemetery is mentioned, there is no mention of the grave site... Now I'm (most of the time, because things DO slip thru the cracks while entering/collecting information) about the details in my research, and it just seems like there's a bit missing that way..... It feels to me like the place where the Soldier was resting before he was identified, is just as important to his story, as his service and his ultimate place of burial. The file atached to the x-numbers, also should have his "in between" resting place and where he was initially found, and, again.... that is important to his story :-)

Going to Ardennes soon to get a start at the Unknown markers, meanwhile, while it's too hot  to move, I get to play and do the research :-)

 

 

Almost made it a month......

 but it wasn't my fault that I caved!  Honest!  Yeah, I wouldn't believe me either, not totally at least :-)

You see, 2 weeks ago, I discovered that a friend adopted a grave at the Military Cemetery in Margraten. We got to talking and he mentioned that he was trying to find more of the personal life of "his" soldier, but hadn't been able to. So I offered to do a little research for him.  You see? Totally being helpful! ROFL.  

Well, did a little digging, and found some stuff,  and found a little more every evening and that started me wondering if I could spare an hour or so, checking out the family tree that had my grandpa in it..... and it quickly escalated into an allweekender. Litterally,  haven't slept since Friday.... I'm dead on my feet, but IT WAS SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!  While looking, I was verifying information I already found, so the progress is not really huge, but to have corroborating information is satisfying....  Some information I had, but I hadn't sourced it, so where ever I found it, doesn't matter, I now have a source for it. I also found a couple of sources, that didn't have the information the source referred to, so I did the right thing, and mentioned the source cited in my notes with the mention that it had "this" information, not the information it referred to. so, either it will prove that the information is somewhere else, and it was just entered wrong,  in which case I will use the main source and dig thru the rest of it to see what I can find, or I'm going to have a long road ahead of me, because I won't be able to trust the information on the site....

And that brings me to a pet peeve of mine in people putting things on the internet, and others taking it at facevalue and running with it, without verifying information/sources. With this kind of information "Trust but verify" should be a way of life! :-)

Well, it's 23.00 and I'm going to find a pillow for a bit.... busy day tomorrow.

June 9, 2025

I'm SO screwed!

   I have a "to do" list that's a mile long, a mountain of paperwork that could gag a maggett and I just found living family from my dad's father........ This is not good. So far, I have been able to not go to the website and fill in the blanks, but it's hard :-)

The only thing I used to know, was that granddad was born in 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) and baptized in the St. Jan Cathedral. He had 14 siblings, and one brother went to the US. Grandpa's family went to Australia, except for dad. That's it.... I found records in the archives and was piecing things together, when Mike's health started to make "fun time" a luxury, that we would rather spend together, and holed up upstairs, mired in papers, so it has been on hold. By accident, I found information on a cousins Heritage site, and now I'm having all kinds of hives because I want to start digging again.....  I keep telling myself I need to get thru the current crap before entertaining doing research, but I'm afraid it's a question of "when" rather than "if" I cave..... I'll keep you posted :-)

 

Don't forget to hug a loved one!!!

May 12, 20125  

Henri-Chapelle

I saw the other day that my claims to take pictures at Henri-Chapelle had expired. This spurred me on to actually get out of my funk of the last week or so, and get to "work". The weather forecast for Monday was nice, so I dressed accordingly, brought 2 bottles of water and some snacks and made sure my tank was full, because between navigation on my phone, it's understanding of backroads (most of the time it sends me the scenic route aka over hell and high water), and my patience with either is not conducive to short trips, even if the inital trip should only take 30 minutes :-) but I digress.....

As always, the peacefull quiet was welcome and after just sitting for a little bit, and being told that the parking lot was for visitors only, I figured I better hop to it. The first part went swimmingly. Section C, E and F got done pretty quickly. There weren't very many in those sections :-)  Section H was were the fun started.... For some reason, my camera's battery went empty in no time (and I had forgotten my powerbank) I ran the car for a bit, but thought that was kindof silly, so I switched to my old little Panasonic. It's was giving me problems (after 10 short years!) and that's why Mike bought me the current one about 4 years ago, but I figured I could try..... Well, I went thru 3 batteries on it, and the last one gave up right after the last picture I needed, and before I could get a nice shot of Section F.

When I got home, I realized that all the pictures taken with the little one, were no good. I knew the sensor was going out, giving some really wonky effects on pictures, which made me giggle most of the time, but I hadn't been aware that it didn't focus right, so instead of seeing a little bit of the markers around the main one, they were all blurry, so I retook those today.

Monday I had seen flowers at the graves of 2 brothers, buried side by side, and I hoped they would be still there, as the cenotaph mentioned the sad line at the bottom of the marker that the boys are buried in foreign soil, as if that meant they were forgotten....  

I know that in Margraten, all the graves have been adopted and there is a sizeable waitinglist, but a lot of the families transfer the adoption to their children. I was there a couple of years ago, and this grandfather was telling his grandson all about the soldier they were there to see, how to make sure the grass around the base of the cross was clear, and to wipe down the marker if needed. He went on to tell the story of how the cemetery came to be, and why it was important to remember and care for "their" American. The little boy was paying attention, and told his grandpa very earnestly that, yes, he would take care of their soldier, just like greatgrandpa, grandpa, and his dad had done. It gave me chills, and I had to walk away before I just went over there and hugged the both of them. (The Dutch are not into hugs from strangers, so it was better that way)

Having been going to Henri Chapelle more frequently the last year or so, I noticed that the policy for leaving flowers is a little more relaxed, and you can see flowers at various gravesites throughout the year, not just around Memorial Day. It is very nice to see, and I would like to find a way to let families know that their kin is not forgotten by the people they helped liberate, and their sacrifice is not going unappreciated, so if I see that there are flowers at a marker, I take a picture and post it to their memorial, even if there is already one there.

I got all but 6 of the Unknown markers photographed, and I have about 5 to sort out, because in Section H, as in Section G the markers on the end of the rows are all unknown, so if you look down, that's all you see. It's a staggering sight.

 

Rounding off this post with some pictures I've taken over the last couple of weeks....

Not sure if he's family, but on the off chance......

Section H

April 9, 2025

CHILLS!!

My friend David sent me a video that drills home several things, that every member of the Armed Forces and everyone researching their family already knows......

History is more than  names and dates

FREEDOM COMES AT A PRICE MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY THEMSELVES

Service men and woman are not the only ones serving our country. Their families are too!

The final story of Private First Class Harold B McCarn

To hear the story told by a family member, to see the images I only heard about.... it is impressive and humbling.  Having said that and speaking as the history geek that I am.   Enjoy this glimpse in history very few are aware of, because in view of sensibility (as it was explained to me at Henri Chapelle) these images and stories are not freely shared by the cemeteries where family members are cared for.  When told that "The fallen were moved from their temporary resting place to the permanent cemetery" you can imagine and visualize, up to a point at least,  but actually seeing some of the images, brings it home on a whole different level. To hear the whole process explained makes the already impressive cemeteries even more so, because of the sheer dedication of those who actually built them, so that these soldiers may rest in the peace they sacraficed everything for to establish..... But it also shows a side that few people even realise is very real. For every fallen soldier, every cross in the cemeteries, for every name on the Walls of the Missing, a family lost a son, a husband, a fiancee, a father,  a brother, a friend  or an uncle. They had to carry on their life without a very important part of their hearts. We should not forget that, just as we should never forget those who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we enjoy.

They never came home...... 

 The high price of Freedom

 

April 1, 2025

Updated information....

Well, more of a "non-date" LOL!

A migraine yesterday, quickly followed by a panic attack, kinda put me in a chair for today, so I did what I haven't done in while and checked my email..... Nothing earthshattering, so moved on to checking my newly returned external drive. Most of the 3 TB was recoverable, except any emails I saved, so that's a problem for my family tree information.... You really gotta love this forced digital age. As with a lot of "It's new and let's make everybody use it" attitude, the principle is great! No paper, so no trees chopped down, so possibly cleaner air and better climate, but the reality is.... paper doesn't lock up and denies access to what's on it!  But that is a pet peeve of mine that has nothing to do with researching the family tree or putting in time updating/starting memorials on Find A Grave or doing the same for people that ask :-)

So, my schedule changed from going to Henri Chapelle today to doing some serious Vegging on the couch and going to Belgium tomorrow. Still have to fill up before I go to far, still have to remember to bring my water and snacks and still have to set the crockpot for dinner, just on a different day.  

However, by checking the new drive, I found that I will not have enough waking hours coming up to go thru all information collected, to put it in an order that I can use to refill the Family tree in Reunion, because, yep! That was one of the very few files that could not get recovered, soooooo ...... back to re-entering about 3000 people with all the extra information available, trying to rebuild my "filing"system, because a lot of the stuff was just jammed on the drive without too much organizing. Not sure I'm up for it, but we'll see.

Just testing a theory here, and needed a post to do it, so, sorry for just jabbering :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!!

Love and hugs :-)     

 

March 23, 2925