Adopt a grave in Margraten
The American Cemetery in Margraten, near Maastricht, is not quite like any other American cemetery in Europe: it is the only one where the fallen soldiers’ graves have been adopted by local inhabitants.
The adoption programme started in 1946 and the more than 18,000 American graves at the time were soon adopted on a voluntary basis by Dutch families, who committed themselves to maintaining the graves well, adorning them regularly with fresh flowers, and to keeping in touch whenever possible with the soldiers’ relatives in the United States.
One such caretaker is Rick Mommers, a 19-year-old highschool student from Voerendaal. Rick adopted his first grave when he was 14, after a school trip to the cemetery in Margraten. “It was not part of a project or for an organisation. It was a purely individual decision”, as a tribute to the “million young soldiers who fought thousands of kilometres from their homes and who, for many of them, lost their lives for our freedom”, Rick explains.
Pfc. Alfred G. Corgan
Last Christmas Rick volunteered for a fourth grave, belonging to a soldier named Pfc. Alfred G. Corgan. “The one small thing I can do back for Pfc. Alfred G. Corgan is to pay my respect to him by putting some flowers on his grave at days like Christmas and Easter when he would be happy to be home with his loved family and friends”, Rick says. By doing this, he adds, “I have the feeling I give him at least a sense that his sacrifice has not been forgotten”.
The young student decided to find out more about the soldiers whose graves he had adopted and who were about his age when they died. But “the graves I adopted didn’t have a correspondence address. I searched for the soldiers’ families myself. I sent probably about hundreds of emails and maybe about 50-60 letters to everyone (webmasters, newspapers, veterans, town halls, historians etc.) who maybe could help me gather information”, he says.
In the case of Pfc. Corgan, who died on 12 April 1945 - less than a month before the end of the war - Rick discovered a book where the soldier’s death is described. Corgan was injured during a battle and drowned after the boat he was being transported in overturned when shells exploded nearby. Rick was also able to get in touch with Corgan’s sister-in-law, who provided him with many personal details regarding Corgan’s pre-war life in Walton, Delaware.
Rick Mommers says that he will be very grateful to anyone who will send him additional information about the three other soldiers whose graves he is caring for: Julius S. Hass, Francis T. Fernan and Adrian B. Hoskins. And “maybe after my exams I will even adopt some more graves”, he says.
Source: Crossroads print issue, April 2005
Update April 2006: Rick Mommers has now created a website in memory of his four adopted soldiers.
More information: Grave Adoption Association
September 20th, 2006 at 10:55 am
I have a site and grave of one PFC Henry L. Hooper with some info I have been able to obtain about the man.
November 12th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
I need some assistance in obtaining an address.
Andre’ Rieu
I would like to send Andre’ and his wife Marjory a thank you note plus a recommendation for another direction in his musical career. The thank you is for the song Marjorie wrote by the title,”Lost Heroes”. It was suberly written, recorded and produced. I live in Rochestr, NY. We visited the Margraten Cemetary a number of years ago when we, the Empire Statesmen Drum and Bugle Corps, competed in the WMC in Kerkrade. The Empire Statesmen performed at the cemetary and provided two wreaths, one from the American side and one from Canada. It was by far the highlight of our trip to Nederland. We spent a day in Maartricht as well. Our D&B was most impressed by the grave adoption. I was born in Amsterdam and lived in Heemstede. We immigrated to America in 1957. Hartelijk Bedankt.
Jos Jochem Porte, now Josh J. Porte
December 8th, 2007 at 5:15 am
PFC Bill Alexander is interred at Margraten. I was with him when he was KIA on 4/5/45 in an attack on the Bridge over the Lippe Canal in Germany. We were in L Co., 378th Infantry, 95th Infantry Division.
The Wonderful van Rossum Family has adoptred his grave and for this heartfelt action…. we can not over emphasize how grateful are the few survivors of “L” Co.