


                         MILITARY CEMETERIES IN EUROPE
                         
                         During an Easter 1993 visit to the area in
                         which the 4th Division fought during the
                         miserable winter of 1944-45, I visited several
                         cemeteries. One of them was a German
                         cemetery near the village of Huertgen. The
                         others were the American and German
                         cemeteries near Luxembourg City.
                         
          Contrasts      I was again struck by some contrasts. In the
                         first place, there were more visitors to the
                         American cemeteries. Also, they give a
                         brighter appearance. The Americans use an
                         off white stone as grave markers and
                         buildings, the Germans a heavy, grey stone
                         or mount plaques flush with the ground.
                         
                         After visiting the Huertgen Forest, I fell to
                         wondering where all the men who died there
                         were buried. A message on the European
                         Forum of Compuserve produced a pamphlet sent
                         by a Compuserve user in the American Embassy
                         in Paris, from the American Battle Monuments
                         Commission. This covers cemeteries around
                         the world, in which there are buried 124,912
                         dead. Most of these are from World War II.
                         This does not include the 94,241 who were
                         missing in action or buried at sea.
                         
          Collecting     After the World War II, the Battle Monuments
          the bodies     Commission consolidated the many graves
                         scattered around Europe. Next of kin were
                         allowed to decide. Some wanted the men left
                         near where they had fallen. Most were
                         reburied in the present cemeteries.
                         
                         The men who died during the winter fighting
                         are for the most part buried in cemeteries in
                         Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
                         
                         The visits to the German cemeteries were
                         disappointing, because the offices were
                         closed. There was, however, a large sign in
                         German at the Huertgen cemetery, which
                         described at length what had gone on in that
                         area. Since I read German fairly well, I could
                         make out what it said. It was, however, too 
                         long to copy and used too small print to 
                         photograph.
                         
          Information    A letter after returning home produced a
                         reply from the German organization which
                         cares for the cemeteries. This included
                         the full text of what is on the sign at the
                         Huertgen cemetery, as well as an excellent
                         pamphlet about all military cemeteries in
                         Germany, of which there are many. Also
                         included was information on cemeteries in
                         east Germany.
                         
                         According to the text of the sign, the
                         Germans lost 12,000 and the Americans
                         55,000 in the fighting in that area. As far as
                         I know, there is no reliable data on German
                         casualties, and the number of American
                         casualties depends on the area and period
                         covered.
                         
                         In the cemetery near Luxembourg City, there
                         was the same sign as I had seen at a
                         German cemetery in Normandy last June.
                         This I could photograph, and it says that the
                         cemetery is one of 343 in 24 countries, with
                         1.4 million graves from the two wars.
                         
          History        One does not have to dwell on these figures
                         for long to see that they say a great deal
                         about German and European history in this
                         century.
                         
                         Also, the American cemeteries say a great
                         deal about the price Americans have paid
                         when intervening in European civil wars, to
                         prevent Germany from getting control of this
                         continent.
                         
                         My father having survived both the first and
                         second round and my brother and I the second, 
                         I have no regrets. My generation has provided
                         Europeans nearly a half century of peace -
                         although the east Europeans paid a hugh
                         price for this.                      

                         Note: After sending this message, I was in-
                         formed that the sign at the German cemetery
                         near the town of Huertgen will be posted also
                         in English.                                 




                         
