The Fallen......

THINGS I LEARNED:

• A lot of times, the soldiers were buried where or close to they fell during battle, sometimes there was nobody there to take care of them and it was the locals who cared for them, and saw to their burial.
• Most of those private burials, were well documented, helping out with the identification after the war
• After the war, as many soldiers as possible/known about were disinterred and reburied in temporary cemeteries. 
• All soldiers were taken from German cemeteries and reburied in "allied" countries. There are no US military cemeteries in Germany. 
• After the soldiers were reburied in the temporary cemeteries, and before they were released for burial in the Military Memorial Cemeteries, the families were contacted and there was a one time option to bring the soldier home.
• If family could not be located the soldier remained in the cemetery. At this point it was almost 20 since the war, and many families no longer lived where they lived when the soldier enlisted, and there were no benefits paid besides the initial death benefits to warrant sending the military an address change, so family may not have been notified of the option.
  
• The unknown soldiers automatically stayed behind. Because there was no serial number to engrave in the marker to signify who was buried there, the Unknown soldiers received an identifying number starting with an X, so all information that WAS known, could be maintained with their record. This included often, where they were found, what was found with them, when they were found, and where they had been buried, when they were removed etc.
• At this point in time, there was no DNA testing, so most soldiers that were unidentified had little hope of ever being known.
• When the Army (in charge of the burials and building the memorials) turned the cemeteries over to the Battle Monument group, they took all the records with them.... so the staff has been diligently and valiantly trying to recreate the records of "their" soldiers.
• Over time, there have been great strides made in identifying the unknown, thru better techniques in general, but also thru DNA. If the family can be found, that is. In Henri Chapelle, 75 unknown and missing have been identified. At the time they are "accounted for the family can make the decision to keep them in the states and have them (re)buried at a cemetery of their choosing, or have them taken back to the cemetery they were disinterred from. 
• Instead of having one unknown be known when a soldier is accounted for, it turns out that most are not disinterred, but found where they fell, and their location was unknown.
• The cost for repatriating the soldiers all the way home was for the family starting at the border, so a lot of soldiers stayed on foreign soil, because they were allowed to die for their country, but weren't given the courtesy of returning, unless their family could afford it.  The family had a choice. Pay their way all the way home, or leave them at Arlington and not be able to visit either. Take a look at this article. It's an eye opener!  Family grief and the cost of repatriation
  
• The DPAA conducts the identification procedure and notifies families when soldiers are indeed identified. Their website keeps a running list of soldiers brought back to their families and has a searchable database as well. DPAA stands for Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency

 April 29, 2025

Not really "family" in the traditional sense, but all soldiers are Brothers in Arms while serving together and to anyone who served. Because of the ultimate sacrafice made to keep somebody safe who couldn't keep themselves safe, they are here, as part of Mikes family of Brothers. An added reason for me to add pictures to the memorials for The Fallen" is that they liberated my country of birth, even though it isn't home anymore......

Margraten American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle Cimetière Américain are the Battle Monuments closest, so I'm going to focus mostly on them, while trying to give information on research and where to find information as I find it.  Mind you, even though the cemeteries are all part of American Battle Monument, they don't all operate the same way behind the scenes, so information that may be readily available at one, may not be at another, but the one thing that holds true for all of them, is the courtesy and helpfulness towards people like me, that have tons of questions and thoughts.  

Contrary to what I've been doing sofar, I'm actually going to sit down after each visit where I received answers or insights, and put them to paper, instead of assuming (I know.....) that I will remember what I learned where. 

I may post the headliner on the blogpart, and put the details on this page, and if I figure out a way to link a post to a part of this page, I may just surprise the crap out of everybody and put that knowledge to use! 

March 20, 2025