Honoring our legacy: Locals adopt graves of U.S. Soldiers

Editor's Note: The following story is a part of USAG Benelux's "Honoring our Legacy" 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.

BRUNSSUM, Netherlands - 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.

Now, after 25 years of caring for the gravesite, Mevis' research established contact with McTamney's 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's final resting place.

"McTamney's son was searching all of his life to find out where his father was buried," said Mevis. Unfortunately, he passed away just weeks before contact was made with relatives. When McTamney's granddaughter visited the gravesite with Mevis, many tears were shed.

"It was very emotional for both of us," said Mevis.

Noreen gave him the original burial flag from her grandfather's memorial service to express her gratitude. He displays it in a shadow box at his home with the Soldier's dog tags and Purple Heart award.

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.

"They don't know about it," said Mevis. "And Americans can't believe that all of the graves are adopted. [Dutch] people are waiting more than 10 years to get one."

Since 1945, the Netherlands American Cemetery is the only cemetery where the locals have adopted every single one of the fallen U.S. Soldiers-all 8,288 headstones as well as the 1,722 names on the Tablets of the Missing in the cemetery's 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.

Mevis' 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' interest in adopting a U.S. Soldier grave.

"When I was a young, I went with my bike to Margraten two to three times a week," he said. "I went for the silence and what the Soldiers did for us."

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.

"Every year on Memorial Day I spend a thousand euro on flowers for the graves without flowers," said Mevis. He recruits help from neighbor kids to cart wagons full of these flowers to distribute across the cemetery.

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's sacrifice-a symbol of the freedom fought for and won.

"For me," said Mevis, "it is the loveliest place in South Limburg."

To learn more about the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands, and the stories of the U.S. Soldiers who fought in WWII and are laid to rest there, go the the American Battle Monuments Commission website. https://www.abmc.gov/Netherlands

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.