Answer to
Sybil in diary - GWB visits Margraten in Limburg, the Netherlands!
Secret Service wanted to shut down about 50% of the Limburg province. Was unacceptable, in the end agreed to let GWB stay the night in beautiful small village of Valkenburg, near the Allied cemetery Margraten. I wrote about this in my recent diary: TODAY - Liberation Day - May 5th
I will provide some more INFO about the cemetery, created just inside the border with Germany near Aachen. During the 1944-45 battles as the Allied forces moved east toward Berlin, the Allied rule is that the soldiers cannot be laid to rest in enemy territory.
More to follow about the American Military Cemetery in Margraten --
In 1946 there were some 18,970 soldiers laid to rest in Margraten. Each grave has been adopted by a Dutch citizen, for a regular visit and to place flowers. Today there are some 8,000 graves left and the 3rd generation, the grandchildren of the Dutch, take care of the task for regular visits. The stories broadcast today, interviews with the veterans who come to visit their comrades are heartbreaking still!
One special story was about Pvt. Jack Wood, an orphan 14 years old when he enlisted in 1943, and was shipped to Europe for the Great War. Jack was big for his age, and got his stepmother to promise not to reveal his age to the military. Jack Wood fought in the Ardennes, Belgium during the battle of the Bulge. That was in December 1944 when the Germans made one last attempt to cut through Belgium to reach the port of Antwerp, and deal the Allies a blow.
In spring 1945, Jack's stepmother went to the Army to reveal his true age. Immediately, an order was sent to relieve Jack from his battle duties, now across the border in Germany. The order arrived one day too late. In Jack's last fight, he was the first soldier to approach a German stronghold, when a white flag of surrender was waved. A sniper's bullet ended his life. Jack Wood has his final restplace in Margraten, a beautiful countryside he helped liberate.
South-Limburg Gulp Valley
Oui - Liberté - Egalité - Fraternité