WASHINGTON — More than 180,000 American children were left fatherless by World War II. Some never met their dads.
Yet on this Memorial Day weekend — 70 years after the war’s end — the children have visited their fathers’ grave sites, close to where the soldiers fought and died in the Netherlands.
The group of some 50 descendants, some from the D.C. area, are in Margraten, Netherlands. For some, it’s the first time they’ve seen where their fathers are laid to rest at the Netherlands American Cemetery.
“It is the site where over 8,000 Americans are buried from World War II,” says Tim Nosal, who is in the Netherlands. He’s the chief of public affairs for the American Battle Monuments Commission, which oversees this cemetery and other overseas grounds where American military members are buried.
At the Netherlands American Cemetery, “every grave is adopted by a local family,” Nosal continues. “A local family comes and makes sure every grave has decorations — such as flowers and flags on holidays, sometimes on the anniversary of the individual’s death, or possibly on the individual’s birthday.”
In this region, Nosal says, it’s a Dutch tradition to honor these fallen Americans. “I can’t describe the outpouring of love these people have for the United States, especially for those men who rest here in the cemetery,” Nosal says.
Visitors are surprised to discover someone’s taken care of their father’s grave the past 70 years.
“We all are orphans, but we all have our own stories because we all have different circumstances,” said Billie Ann Myers Meeks, whose father is buried in the Netherlands. “We’ll always have a special place in our hearts for each other because we’ve walked down that road.”
Billie Ann never got to meet her father, whom she’s named after. Shortly after she was born, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. By the time Billie Ann was five, she had lost both parents.
