In Touch With American History
By Betty Miller Buttram
FWIS Contributing Writer
There are two large American Military Cemeteries where our fallen heroes are resting, as the saying goes, when one is done with the worries of the world, one can now rest peacefully in the arms of God. Presently, someone who thinks they have a godly power comes along to disturb the peace, not the soldiers’ peace, but the peace of the living by trying to erase their legacy.
The Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial is the only American military cemetery in Margraten. It has a memorial tower and the land covers 65.5 acres. Each year the cemetery hosts a Memorial Day ceremony that commemorates and honors the sacrifices of more 10,000 American service members. There are 174 African American soldiers buried in this cemetery. These men were part of the one million African Americans who had enlisted during World War II and faced a dual struggle of fighting enemy forces abroad while confronting racial discrimination within the military. The African American soldiers were called into action because white soldiers were dying and the military needed them. They liberated the people in the villages in the Netherlands where the German soldiers had been occupying their hometowns. The people were so grateful to be free of the Germans and were jubilant when they saw who had rescued them. There are 174 African American soldiers buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery and for generations after the end of World War II, families in these villages have adopted their graves and honored them with visits and flowers.
The cemetery is under the care of the American Battle Monuments Commission which is an independent agency of the United States Government. The Dutch media recently reported that two plaques about African American soldiers have gone missing from the cemetery’s visitor center and it is unknown when they were removed. The plaques were taken down after a complaint from the Heritage Foundation. The removed plaques paid tribute to the African American soldiers who participated in liberating Europe from Nazi occupation.
Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System and one of two maintained by the U.S. Army. There are more than 400,000 people buried in its 639 acres. Earlier this year, this administration began trying to suppress or remove the military history of African American soldiers and African American prominent civilians buried there from American history. Links for notable African Americans at Arlington were removed from the cemetery’s website in March 2025.
Among the African American soldiers peacefully resting in Arlington are the names of the Buffalo Soldiers; Benjamin O Davis, Sr. the first African American General in the U.S. Army; Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the first African American General in the U.S. Air Force; Medgar Evers, U.S. Army veteran who served in World War II and was a Civil Rights Leader; names of the Tuskegee Airman and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion; Daniel “Chappie ”James, Jr., four star General in U.S. Armed Forces; Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Colin Powell, Vietnam Veteran, National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Secretary of State; U.S. Colored Troops from the Civil War; and over 3,000 freed slaves are buried in Section 27 who were laid to rest near many of the Union soldiers who fought for their freedom.
The removal of honorary plaques and links to websites will not erase African American history. When time passes, these things can be restored and put back in their proper places. Meanwhile, African American people know who they are, whose ancestral shoulders are holding them up, and their oral history. This is another chapter in American history for those who think they are the privileged but are actually full of fear which leads them to do hateful things.