Never Forgotten: That Last Full Measure

[Perknose]

Faces of Margraten: Dutch Volunteers Put Faces to US Soldiers’ Names at WWII Cemetery​

"[Sebastian] Vonk founded Faces of Margraten to connect the grateful people of the Netherlands today with the Americans who fought and died in the effort to liberate their nation — and all of Europe — from Adolf Hitler's Germany during World War II.

It's a remarkable international effort to adopt and honor 10,000 American GIs who are buried or memorialized today at the Netherlands American Cemetery in the small community of Margraten.

Dutch families have already "adopted" all 10,000 soldiers. Vonk said there is even "a waiting list of people looking to adopt," should another adoptive person or family pass along the opportunity.

Vonk is now leading an effort to pair each name at the cemetery with the face of that U.S. war hero, while expanding the effort to five other American battlefield cemeteries in Europe.

He's seeking adoptive families in Europe for about 42,000 American GIs and photos from their families in the United States.

It's an effort, he said, to "humanize" the cost of war and the sacrifices made by the United States.

They have 8,651 photographs to date."

^^^ Many of us have parents or other family who answered the call to defeat fascism. Over 400,00 paid with their blood, with their lives.

Today, we face fascism within and without our country. It makes my head explode that our mainstream press can't or won't highlight what an absolute bargain our near bloodless support of the proud Ukranian people is as they face the fascist, racist, imperialist dictator Vladimir Putin in a fight for their country, their lives, their freedom. Like Hitler, he can't be reasoned or negotiated with, only stopped cold by force.

No one is fully free until everyone is.

 

[Moonbeam]

I am the son of a US Navy Commander who joined the Navy at 17. He grew up parent-less from the age of 2 and a half and 10. All of my early life my father was gone at war on on cruse as a radioman on various classes of ships, from destroyers to aircraft carriers. It is not usual for a high school graduate enlisted man to reach Commander level but my father was Catholic Nun educated who had a gift for Morse code and I believe the fastest at sending and receiving who ever lived. It was that skill and his ability to teach that took him up the ranks. I was in the Boy Scouts after moving back to Hawaii with a new step Mother at 10. Obama was born in the same hospital in Hawaii that I was, an extraneous but to me fun fact.

As a boy scout I got to visit Punchbowl National Cemetery where placed a lei of the grave of Ernie Pyle. I had already realized that humanity is insane but felt that amplified many times standing there as a young boy in a seemingly endless sea of graves. Human violence has cost me a lot. Human violence and human selfishness.

So nice to see people who out of the ashes of war can still feel gratitude for the sacrifice of others. Bitterness is hard to live with.