In 1945, people of the southern Netherlands Limburg region began a grave adoption program for American soldiers buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery. These Dutch families have cared for and visited every soldier’s grave for over 80 years. There are 80 soldiers from Colorado buried at this cemetery in Margraten, NL. Duty of Memory is a project to build awareness of this story and connect descendants of these Coloradan soldiers with the organizations facilitating connections between American and Dutch families.

A person in military uniform placing a wreath among rows of white crosses at a cemetery, with small flags and flowers on the graves, and trees and bushes in the background.

Project

Duty of Memory has created an exhibit about the history of the Dutch Grave Adoption program along with the pictures and stories of soldiers from Colorado buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery.

This exhibit will be traveling throughout Colorado to build awareness of this story and to find the descendants of these soldiers.

The grave adopters want to be in-touch with the surviving American family members to collect information that helps preserve their soldiers memory and history.

This cemetery holds an annual concert on the day this region of the Netherlands was liberated, titled Liberation Concert. Duty of Memory is sending Colorado state flags to be placed at each soldier’s gravesite and collecting thank-you notes from anyone that desires expressing their gratitude to these Dutch families for taking care of our soldiers for over 80 years.

A memorial featuring a statue of a woman in a long dress, standing on a stone platform with a tree and greenery behind her. To her left, there is a sculpted tree and rock. Behind the statue, an inscribed wall displays a poem about remembrance and tribute, with a small flock of bird sculptures flying across the wall.

Generational Memories

Duty of Memory is also a project to start conversations about how our society wants to remember this generation, often referred to as The Greatest Generation. Their memories from coming of age during the Great Depression, watching authoritarians rise around the world, the conflicts that ensued and the societal lessons learned are slipping from society.

The pain of war that fueled the creation of the United Nations and the NATO alliance are being lost to the turning of time. Many children born in the 2000’s will never meet a World War II veteran. Societies lose their memories every 70-80 years and are prone to repeat the same mistakes of prior generations. How can our families pass along these generational memories, not to glorify war, but to remember the political and societal conditions that led to war and its horrors? How do we use The Greatest Generations memories to keep our children out of the next war?

Dates

Colorado Capital

May 18th - 22nd

First floor West Foyer

Free and open to the public, 7:30am - 5pm

Flag of Colorado with blue, white, and red horizontal stripes and a red 'C' with a gold circle inside.

This PDF document contains the names, rank and home county of all the soldiers from Colorado. If you recognize any names, please reach out to the surviving family members and tell them about this project. Click Here.

If you have a family member that is buried at The Netherlands American Cemetery this organization will facilitate the introduction, The Forever Promise.

To learn more about the story and history of the Dutch Grave Adoption Program, click here.

Follow along on Substack, Facebook and Instagram while this project and exhibit traverse the state of Colorado.