* I frequently hear from the European ( Belgium and France) families that take care of these graves as the try to learn more about their soldier -- it's just wonderful and not commonly known.
Jonas Daemen
woke Sunday in the Dutch village of Heerlen, loaded some flowers into
the family car and made the half-hour drive to a green swath on the edge
of the village of Margraten.
At the
Netherlands American Cemetery, he walked into the 65 acres of green
lawns where 8,301 nearly identical headstones march into the distance.
The regiments of graves can be confusing to navigate, but Jonas knew his
way. He is the fourth generation of his family to come to Margraten
this time of year, and the destination is always the same: Plot K, Row
3, Grave 6.
The white marble cross is chiseled with the name of a man his family has known for 72 years:
EMMETT C. DE LANEY
T. Sgt 736 Tk Bn
Oregon April 19 1945
Jonas is the newest guardian of this one small plot of hallowed ground
holding the remains of a Bend box factory worker who went off to war and
never came back.
Since 1945, De Laney’s grave has been watched over by four generations of Jonas’ family.
http://bit.ly/2ryvx1s
