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Margraten, Netherlands — Ever since a U.S. subject cemetery successful the confederate Netherlands removed 2 displays recognizing Black troops who helped liberate Europe from the Nazis, visitors person filled the guestbook with objections.
The guestbook astatine the American Cemetery successful the colony of Margraten, Netherlands, connected Dec. 11, 2025, shows a connection with an objection to the removal of 2 displays honoring Black soldiers who helped liberate Europe from the Nazis.
Molly Quell / AP
Sometime successful the spring, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. authorities bureau liable for maintaining memorial sites extracurricular the United States, removed the panels from the visitors halfway astatine the American Cemetery successful Margraten, the last resting spot for astir 8,300 U.S. soldiers, acceptable successful rolling hills adjacent the borderline with Belgium and Germany.
The determination came aft President Trump issued a bid of enforcement orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "Our state volition beryllium woke nary longer," helium said successful an code to Congress successful March.
The removal, carried retired without nationalist explanation, has angered Dutch officials, the families of U.S. soldiers and the section residents who grant the American sacrifice by caring for the graves.
U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Joe Popolo seemed to enactment the removal of the displays. "The signs astatine Margraten are not intended to beforehand an docket that criticizes America," helium wrote connected societal media pursuing a sojourn to the cemetery aft the contention had erupted. Popolo declined a petition for comment.
One show told the communicative of 23-year-old George H. Pruitt, a Black worker buried astatine the cemetery, who died attempting to rescue a comrade from drowning successful 1945. The different described the U.S. argumentation of radical segregation successful spot during World War II.
The prima sets implicit the graves of much than 8.300 WW II troops astatine the Netherlands American Cemetery successful Margraten, Netherlands, connected Dec. 11, 2025, wherever the American Battle Monuments Commission removed 2 displays honoring Black liberators from the visitors center.
Peter Dejong / AP
Some 1 cardinal Black soldiers enlisted successful the U.S. subject during the war, serving successful abstracted units, mostly doing menial tasks but besides warring successful immoderate combat missions. An all-Black portion dug the thousands of graves successful Margraten during the brutal 1944-45 play of famine successful the German-occupied Netherlands known successful the Hunger Winter.
Cor Linssen, the 79-year-old lad of a Black American worker and a Dutch mother, is 1 of those who opposes the removal of the panels.
Linssen grew up immoderate 30 miles (50 kilometers) distant from the cemetery and though helium didn't larn who his begetter was until aboriginal successful life, helium knew helium was the lad of a Black soldier.
"When I was born, the caregiver thought thing was incorrect with maine due to the fact that I was the incorrect color," helium told The Associated Press. "I was the lone acheronian kid astatine school."
Linssen unneurotic with a radical of different children of Black soldiers, present each successful their 70s and 80s, visited the cemetery successful February 2025 to spot the panels.
"It's an important portion of history," Linssen said. "They should enactment the panels back."
After months of enigma astir the disappearance of the panels, 2 media organizations - the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) and online media Dutch News - this period published emails obtained done a U.S. Freedom of Information Act petition showing that Trump's DEI policies straight prompted the committee to instrumentality down the panels.
The White House did not respond to queries from AP astir the removed panels.
The American Battle Monuments Commission did not respond to queries from AP astir the revelations. Earlier, the ABMC told the AP that the sheet that discussed segregation "did not autumn wrong (the) commemorative mission.''
It besides said that the sheet astir Pruitt was "rotated" out. The replacement sheet features Leslie Loveland, a achromatic worker killed successful Germany successful 1945, who is buried astatine Margraten.
Chair of the Black Liberators instauration and Dutch legislator Theo Bovens said his organization, which pushed for the inclusion of the panels astatine the visitors center, was not informed that they were removed. He told AP it is "strange" that the U.S. committee feels the panels are not successful their mission, arsenic they placed them successful 2024.
"Something has changed successful the United States," helium said.
Bovens, who is from the portion astir Margraten, is 1 of thousands of locals who thin to the graves astatine the cemetery. People who follow a sedate sojourn it regularly and permission flowers connected the fallen soldier's day and different holidays. The work is often passed down done Dutch families, and determination is simply a waiting database to follow graves of the U.S. soldiers.
Both the metropolis and the state wherever the cemetery is located person demanded the panels beryllium returned. In November, a Dutch tv programme recreated the panels and installed them extracurricular the cemetery, wherever they were rapidly removed by police. The amusement is present seeking a imperishable determination for them.
The Black Liberators is besides looking to find a imperishable determination for a memorial for the Black soldiers who gave their lives to escaped the Dutch.
On America Square, successful beforehand of the Eijsden-Margraten metropolis hall, determination is simply a tiny parkland named for Jefferson Wiggins, a Black solider who, astatine property 19, dug galore of the graves astatine Margraten erstwhile helium was stationed successful the Netherlands.
In his memoir, published posthumously successful 2014, helium describes burying the bodies of his achromatic comrades who helium was barred from fraternizing with portion they were alive.
When Black soldiers came to Europe successful the Second World War, ''what they recovered was radical who accepted them, who welcomed them, who treated them arsenic the heroes that they were. And that includes the Netherlands,″ said Linda Hervieux, whose publication "Forgotten" chronicles Black soldiers who fought connected D-Day and segregation they faced backmost home.
The removal of the panels, she said, "follows a humanities signifier of penning retired the stories of men and women of colour successful the United States."
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