Monday, October 1, 2007

8,301


8,301 is the number of American soldiers buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial.


For October Theme Day (Cemetery or Tombstone), we take you to the southern part of The Netherlands, to the town of Margraten in the Limburg province.




Among these graves are the remains of 106 unknown soldiers. In addition to the gravesites, the walls list the names of 1,722 soldiers who were missing or whose remains were never recovered.






Inside the chapel is a lighting fixture presented by the Dutch people in the shape of the Royal Crown of The Netherlands.








In front of the chapel tower is the "Mourning Woman" statue. The moving words are quoted from General Dwight D. Eisenhower (click to enlarge any picture).



Most of these soldiers lost their lives during the airborne and ground operations to liberate the eastern part of the Netherlands and during the battles as troops advanced into Germany across the Ruhr and Rhine rivers. American forces were but a portion of the Allied troops here; many more soldiers, particularly British, Canadian and Polish forces, lost their lives in battles such as Operation Market Garden.

I'll continue the cemetery/tombstone theme throughout the week, so be sure to check back for some other interesting posts. And visit the over 100 City Daily Photo Blog sites participating in the October theme: St. Louis (MO), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Hyde, UK - Arlington (VA), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Toulouse, France - Arradon, France - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Joplin (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Seattle (WA), USA - Baziège, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Anderson (SC), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Nashville (TN), USA - Tenerife, Spain - Manila, Philippines - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Jacksonville (FL), USA - River Falls (WI), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Lubbock (TX), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Moscow, Russia - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Minneapolis (MN), USA - New Orleans (LA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand - London, England - Paderborn, Germany - The Hague, Netherlands - Selma (AL), USA - Sunderland, UK - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Stavanger, Norway - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Forks (WA), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Wellington, New Zealand - Montpellier, France - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Evry, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - New York City (NY), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cypress (TX), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Wichita (Ks), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Zurich, Switzerland - Budapest, Hungary - Paris, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Grenoble, France - Zurich, Switzerland - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Naples (FL), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Sequim (WA), USA - Chicago (IL), USA

35 comments:

Sally said...

War cemeteries are always very moving.

Sydney Daily Photo

Fénix - Bostonscapes said...

This is a great post and your photos are wonderful.

Lynette said...

I agree with both Sally and Fenix.

Thanks for visiting Portland (OR) Daily Photo. I too felt a strange feeling, standing eye-to-eye, so to speak, with the Mr. and Mrs. Stephens.

TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO said...

A very moving post. Thanks for sharing it with us. Greetings from Toruń Daily Photo...thanks for the nice comment!

Jilly said...

As many others have said today, War graves are so moving. V interesting commentary and set of photos. Thanks.

Kate said...

It seems ironic that October's Theme coincides with Ken Burn's 8-part documentary, _War_, which I am also watching. And, I, too, posted a military cemetery with the intention of carrying the theme through this coming week. A simple but strong image!!

Z said...

How far from Wassenaar is this cemetery?

Thanks for your visit to Villigen. Answer to your question: Right, the neighboring village of Rein has a church and cemetery. Here's an old post from June showing the steeple from Villigen.

Unknown said...

They are so orderly and moving.

Why are there some crosses and others are stars?

R&R said...

Thanks, all, for your comments.
Z(Villigen), Margraten is about 240kms from Wassenaar. Not exactly close, but I thought that the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands was an interesting subject, and I'll post pics from around Wassenaar this week.
Keropok(Singapore), the stars are the Hebrew Star of David, and are for soldiers who indicated judaism as their religion of choice, and the crosses for christians.

Olivier said...

un bel hommage pour tous ces hommes venus mourir pour nous sauver


a beautiful homage for all these men come to die to save us

Bergson said...

The first photograph is extra, with the small bunch of flowers

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the war cemetaries in Normandy, France.

Planet Earth Daily Photo
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Lavenderlady said...

Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos. I appreciate you taking the time to visit this cemetary and share them. Unfortunately, this was one I missed on my last visit to Europe.

Marie said...

This is a beautiful post and a great homage to the people who gave their lives for us.

NorthBayPhoto said...

Very nice photos and information on the cemetery.

Thanks for visiting my NorthBayPhoto blog.

Chris said...

Very nice photos and the commentary!

I often wonder how the families of those buried in another country, or those who have no idea where their children/brothers/husbands were buried, deal with the situation.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Striking and sad photos! That's a lot of our boys dead!

I forgot to sign up for theme day, darn it.

I love your shots and narrative.

Unknown said...

Wonderful photos, very moving tribute.

Port Angeles Daily Photo

isa said...

What a complete post!
This cemetery also reminds me of the war ones in Normandy, France. Very moving and sad. All those young lives lost...

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for sharing this cemetery. I didn't know of it -- and it's quite moving. The lighting fixture is amazing.

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Wow R&R ,
You're doing so great! I always (no kidding!)look at your blog 'whats happening ( or happened) in Holland in past and future..'

But you know :
I'm also a "The-hague and Wassenaar & Scheveningen FAN" because I spended 19 years of my life (my youth teenager time) there!

have a great week!:)

Clueless in Boston said...

Very nice photo. Military cemeteries are so elegant in their simplicity.

Janet said...

All those white crosses just say it all.

Steve Cuddihy said...

Very nice, photos and words.

iBlowfish said...

Your narrative and picture are beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is a beautiful cemetery (if there's such a thing). So neat and tidy.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo.

joy
Norwich Daily Photo

Kim said...

Kind of you to post this reminder that we have done great things in friendship for others, during these days of such turmoil and self doubt in our country as to our goodness and backbone. Just last night the Ken Burns series on WWII on PBS aired a segment containing footage of the Market Garden operation and its devastating casualties on all the groups you mention.
Great post!
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

jeremyDP said...

nice photo and thanks for the story.

Neva said...

I love the way these look. Poignant picture.

Lezard said...

Great shot. I love the perspective of the picture and the colour touch of the flower. I always loved war cemetaries. I like the idea of everybody getting the same size rememberance cross/plate, like an uniform at school. No difference in death between the wealthy and the poors....

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photo set--the perspectives are really striking. The cemetery as you've shot it looks beautiful.

And thanks for the visit to Arlington DP.

Asi Mod said...

The first photo is amazing. It's beautiful, in a morbid way.

travelphilippines said...

very beautiful iuniformed tomb and a nice green grass.

Steve Buser said...

A very appropriate and moving post.
Sorry, I was away in Texas yesterday and just getting back to my computer to see all that I missed.
--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo

Bernt Seipl said...

Really good choice. I like the lines in the picture.