Posted on 05/27/2008 7:50:53 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Red and white roses will adorn the graves of two Corpus Christi soldiers buried in the Netherlands today, courtesy of twin Dutch brothers who adopted the graves as thanks to the men who helped liberate their country during World War II.
"For me it's an honor to do this," said Jasper van Haren, 32, a credit manager from Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands. "Our granddad was a slave in German factories while our grandmother ate flower bulbs to stay alive. I know without all those American guys who died here in Holland and Europe for our freedom, we wouldn't be here now."
On Sunday, the twins planned to drive two hours from their home in Kaatsheuvel, a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant, to place the roses on the Corpus Christi soldiers' graves in an American military cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands.
There are 24 U.S. military cemeteries on foreign soil with 124,913 U.S. war dead from three wars, according to The American Battle Monuments Commission. Margraten, the only one in the Netherlands, has 8,302 graves, most of which have been similarly adopted by residents who live there.
The graves of Corpus Christi brothers U.S. Army Sgt. Fernando B. Rangel and Pfc. Joe M. Rangel are two of 11 that van Haren and his brother, Martijn, have adopted in the past two years. Martijn's interest in the war escalated after he joined a historical reenactment group, which is how the men learned about adopting graves.
They leave notes, gifts and flowers at their adopted grave sites for Christmas and on the fallen soldiers' birth dates. They also have tried reaching descendents of the fallen soldiers, to acquaint with family members and learn more about the soldiers.
"One family I contacted was flabbergasted to learn their loved one is so well taken care of," Jasper van Haren said. "Americans often think of their soldiers as being in some dark place, but here it is beautiful."
Brothers in arms
According to Army records, the Rangel brothers were sons of Jose and Concepcion Rangel, who lived in the 800 block of Alameda Street.
Fernando was 20 when he was killed Dec. 11, 1944, in a bombing mission over Vienna, Austria. His brother, Joe, 18, was killed in combat in the Netherlands less than a month later, on Jan. 6, 1945. Both brothers were awarded the Purple Heart posthumously and are listed among about 160 World War II Army casualties from Nueces County.
Fernando's remains first were buried in a civilian cemetery in Vienna, Austria, then were moved to one in St. Avold, France. Military records compiled by Jasper van Haren show that letters to his parents, who both died in 1949, were answered shortly after the brothers' deaths by a sister, Catalina R. Guzman. She requested that Fernando's remains be moved close to his brother in Margraten. No recent record of Guzman was found.
The Rangels are the only soldiers the van Harens have not been able to link to their American family members, despite communicating with military archivists and searching online resources.
"We are very fortunate to have friends like Jasper and his brother," said Wendy Butler, who maintains a Web page for descendents of Fernando's bombardment group's fallen soldiers.
3 minutes not enough
Jasper van Haren said he decided to adopt the soldiers' graves because he didn't believe the three minutes of silence across the country every year on May 4 was enough.
"At 8 p.m. there are three minutes of silence for the day before we were liberated on May 5, 1945. Even the TV gets silenced to pay respect to everybody who died for us," he said. "I didn't think three minutes of silence is enough, so I decided to do more."
The reward he gets knowing he is caring for someone who helped liberate his country is worth it, he said. "My heart jumped out of my chest when I got Fernando's name, serial number and the day he died with the grave adoption papers in the mail."
The van Harens have found photographs of all the soldiers whose graves they've adopted except for Fernando. They shared their desire to find one with Robert Feuge, a Fredericksburg artist who found the Rangel brothers' graves and met the twin caretakers in December while on vacation in Margraten.
Feuge and his wife, Claudia, were affected by the men's sincerity and have continued to communicate with them via e-mail, and have tried to help find information about the soldiers here in Texas.
"I didn't really want to go (to the cemetery) because it seemed like a bit of a downer compared to all the beauty we had seen on our trip," Feuge said. "But these twin brothers, with their commitment to soldiers who helped keep Europe free, is extraordinary."
Contact Mike Baird at 886-3774 or bairdm@caller.com. Allison Ehrlich contributed to this report.
I was wondering if any FReepers know of a website that locates the graves of soldiers buried in EuROPe from WWII?........
You can find this information at the American Battlefields Monument Commission - http://www.abmc.gov
American Battlefields Monument Commission
should be:
American Battle Monuments Commission
Thanks!....
Some of your finer countrymen.
This will get you to the US military cemetery at Hamm, Luxembourg. General Patton is interred there along with 5K others.
Thank you for posting this wonderful story. Tears....
You might start looking Here.
About ten years ago I visited the American Cemetery near Belleau Wood in France. It was a few days before Memorial Day and it looked gorgeous. Beautifully maintained and decorated. All done by the French. The honor they have shown U.S. dead from the two World Wars has always kept me from beating up on our Gallic cousins with too much vigor.
L
Man....if not for FR, I would NEVER have heard about this. Thanks.
BTW, I would love to contact the van Harens and thank and salute them profusely. Any ideas?
A local Christian musician by the name of David Harsh (and unbelievable talent!) was out on a jog near Belleau Wood when he was learning from some guitar virtuoso. He came across a small graveyard and paused awhile, and many of the graves had “Unknown but to God” on them.
He wrote the following song - “Unknown” in honor and memory of them. There is a line that goes something like “Isn’t there a father, mother, brother, sister somewhere wishing that they will soon be home...”. It’s a very touching song that honors these brave men and their proud service.
Here’s a short clip of the song:
http://davidharsh.com/Unknown_Clip.mp3
Contact Mike Baird at 886-3774 or bairdm@caller.com.
Thanks...e-mail has been sent.
More on Jasper van Haren
The 464th Bomb Group in WWII - Our Allies
http://www.zplace2b.com/464th/jvanharen.htm
More on Martijn van Haren
http://www.fallennotforgotten.nl/
Click on NEWS,
down to V-Mail: Memorial Day at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial; an impression Sunday, May 28, 2006
and click on the bottom cross Adopted by Martijn van Haren
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