My flight from ATL arrived in Amsterdam around 10am, two hours late. Even with the delay, it was too early to check into the hotel, so I drove from Amsterdam down the A2 to see the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
Margraten is just to the east of Maastricht, one of the oldest and loveliest cities in the Netherlands. It's located almost right on the border with Belgium, a perfect place to put a cemetery and memorial for Americans killed in the area during WWII. It's also where my Uncle Mike, my dad's oldest brother, is buried. Uncle Mike was in the 2nd Ranger Batallion, and was killed during the Ardennes offensive in December, 1944. He posthumously received the Silver Star for his gallantry in that action.
The main entrance to the cemetery is a wide plaza, with high walls on either side, leading up to the memorial tower. There's a carrillion inside the tower, whose bells toll the time as well as play patriotic hymns.
On the left side of the plaza is a map detailing Allied operations in the Netherlands, presenting a broad outline of the actions in which many of the fallen were killed. The biggest of these operations were Market-Garden, the massive airborne offensive designed to capture the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, and the Ardennes defense better known as the "Battle of the Bulge."
From the map display (the alcove in the right rear of the above photo), a long reflecting pool is flanked on either side by marble walls. The names of those men listed as Missing In Action in these operations are engraved on those walls.
A statue of a mourning woman is at the head of the reflecting pool, just in front of the Memorial Tower.
The tower dominates the 65.5-acre cemetery. Inside the tower is a small chapel.
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