{"id":315046,"date":"2024-10-29T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=315046"},"modified":"2024-10-30T14:40:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T14:40:18","slug":"honoring-our-legacy-locals-adopt-graves-of-u-s-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=315046","title":{"rendered":"Honoring our legacy: Locals adopt graves of U.S. Soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n (Right to left) Jos Mevis, Noreen Naftol McTamney, and Annie Mevis-Gulikers stand next to the U.S. Soldier grave of James Henry McTamney at the Netherlands American Cemetery May 28, 2024. Noreen, McTamney\u2019s granddaughter, was the first relative to visit his grave. (Courtesy photo by Nicole Sproncken)
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Editor’s Note: The following story is a part of USAG Benelux\u2019s \u201cHonoring our Legacy\u201d series in which we tell stories of World War I, World War II, the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and alliance achievements throughout the decades.<\/em><\/p>\n

BRUNSSUM, Netherlands \u2014 Jos Mevis was on the waitlist for five years to adopt a World War II U.S. Soldier grave before a letter of congratulations finally arrived in the mail. The Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten matched him with a Soldier: Sgt. James Henry McTamney of the U.S. Army 406th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division, who was killed in action in 1945 at the age of 29.<\/p>\n

Now, after 25 years of caring for the gravesite, Mevis\u2019 research established contact with McTamney\u2019s surviving family. Through letters in the post, text messaging, and phone calls, the granddaughter of McTamney, Noreen Naftol McTamney, planned a trip with her husband in May 2024 to fly to the Netherlands. She was the first relative to see McTamney\u2019s final resting place.<\/p>\n

\u201cMcTamney\u2019s son was searching all of his life to find out where his father was buried,\u201d said Mevis. Unfortunately, he passed away just weeks before contact was made with relatives. When McTamney\u2019s granddaughter visited the gravesite with Mevis, many tears were shed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very emotional for both of us,\u201d said Mevis.<\/p>\n

Noreen gave him the original burial flag from her grandfather\u2019s memorial service to express her gratitude. He displays it in a shadow box at his home with the Soldier\u2019s dog tags and Purple Heart award.<\/p>\n

The immense significance of the cemetery is not lost on Mevis. Over the 15 years that he has worked for the housing division of the Directorate of Public Works with the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux in Brunssum, he often encounters U.S. Soldiers visiting or on duty in the Netherlands. Every time, he shares the importance of visiting the cemetery in Margraten.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t know about it,\u201d said Mevis. \u201cAnd Americans can\u2019t believe that all of the graves are adopted. [Dutch] people are waiting more than 10 years to get one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n A bouquet of flowers adorns the gravesite of James Henry McTamney, one of more than 10,010 U.S. Soldiers laid to rest and honored at the Netherlands American Cemetery. Jos Mevis, who adopted the grave 25 years ago, visits twice a month to place flowers in honor of McTamney\u2019s sacrifice and in remembrance of the cost of freedom. (Courtesy photo by Jos Mevis)
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Since 1945, the Netherlands American Cemetery is the only cemetery where the locals have adopted every single one of the fallen U.S. Soldiers\u2014all 8,288 headstones as well as the 1,722 names on the Tablets of the Missing in the cemetery\u2019s Court of Honor. In fact, he explained, the waitlist to adopt is so long that people are waiting more than 10 years, and the organization heading up the project is no longer taking new sign-ups.<\/p>\n

Mevis\u2019 history with the cemetery and his fascination with WWII began when he was child. His grandfather and grandmother told the story of the Allied pilots who crashed and how they helped hide them in the attic at their large farm in the town of Vaesrade from the occupying German troops. This and other WWII stories piqued Mevis\u2019 interest in adopting a U.S. Soldier grave.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a young, I went with my bike to Margraten two to three times a week,\u201d he said. \u201cI went for the silence and what the Soldiers did for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his frequent visits, he walked the rows of crosses and Star of Davids to read the headstones and the ages of the Soldiers when they died in service. Each year now, he attends and participates in as many military observances and celebrations as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year on Memorial Day I spend a thousand euro on flowers for the graves without flowers,\u201d said Mevis. He recruits help from neighbor kids to cart wagons full of these flowers to distribute across the cemetery.<\/p>\n

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\n Hundreds of flowers lay on the floor of Jos Mevis\u2019 garage waiting to be transported to the Netherlands American Cemetery and placed on U.S. Soldier gravesites in May 2024. (Courtesy photo by Jos Mevis)
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Twice a month throughout each passing year, Mevis visits on his own and stops at the gravesite most dear to him. There, he carefully places a new bouquet in honor of McTamney\u2019s sacrifice\u2014a symbol of the freedom fought for and won.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me,\u201d said Mevis, \u201cit is the loveliest place in South Limburg.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten and the stories of the U.S. Soldiers who fought in WWII and are laid to rest there, go to the <\/em>American Battle Monuments Commission<\/a><\/em> website.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Right to left) Jos Mevis, Noreen Naftol McTamney, and Annie Mevis-Gulikers stand next to the U.S. Soldier grave of James Henry McTamney at the Netherlands American Cemetery May 28, 2024. Noreen, McTamney\u2019s granddaughter, was the first relative to visit his grave. (Courtesy photo by Nicole Sproncken) (Photo Credit: Courtesy) VIEW ORIGINAL Editor’s Note: The following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315048,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-315046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315046"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315052,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315046\/revisions\/315052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/315048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=315046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=315046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}