My uncle, William Ralph Gawthrop, Jr., was killed at age 19 just at the end of WWII. I am very proud of him for risking his life to help others. He is buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. I’ve visited his grave a few times, it’s incredibly moving. Here is a piece with illustrations that I wrote about the first time I visited several years ago. I hope to go back again soon.
My heart goes out to all the families of men and women who served and lost their lives to protect others. And I am very grateful for their bravery.
How sad, less than 3 weeks before the end of the war in Europe.
This is so lovely; what a sweet face he had. As it happens, my late great friend Liliane Couck Smith, who died several years ago at the age of 100, told us about the devotion with which this cemetery was ( and is, I assume), cared for. The Belgians never forgot what America did during the war. Liliane was Belgian born and worked with the Resistance during the war. She and her husband, an American, returned to Belgium until she was in her nineties. They always visited this cemetery. RIP to your uncle and my friend.