Seventy-one years have passed since the end of World War II. The war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945, but the war in the Pacific raged on until 14 August 1945, also known as V-J Day. The official, formal surrender of the Japanese took place on 2 September 1945.
In America after the war, soldiers returned home to begin their lives again. Families grieved for all those lost during the war. A few stories were told, but for the most part, our veterans returned with the stories bottled up inside. As the years passed, more veterans began opening up about their service and families began to wonder what information could be located.
Europeans began rebuilding their lives, often from scratch because of all the destruction. Individuals and families across the continent also began honoring our fallen soldiers buried in temporary American Military Cemeteries, particularly at Margraten in Holland. (During the war, military reports referred to the country as Holland, which we know as the Netherlands.) The cemetery at Margraten was the first to create an official grave adoption program, which is still in place today. In fact, all of the graves and names on the Wall of the Missing have been adopted. After the war ended, the grave adoption families tried to contact the American families and learn about the soldier whose grave they adopted. Many could not due to all the red tape involved. It could take decades before some of the grave adopters located a family member for their soldier.
This wish for connection continues today as grave adopters still seek information and photographs of their soldier. To help provide information, the Foundation United Adopters American War Graves strives to put a face with every name and collect information on our soldiers in these cemeteries. To take their research database to the next level and locate photos for every soldier, they need help from American genealogists.
On the other side of this coin, there are many Americans who wish to learn more about their soldier, sailor, or Marine. Researchers and foundations in Europe have amassed large amounts of information, which they make available to Americans. The problem is, most Americans do not know these resources exist.
Over the last several years as I researched and wrote books and programs on how to research our World War II soldiers, sailors, and Marines, I connected with many individuals and groups in Europe. In speaking with them, some use resources like Ancestry, Fold3, FindAGrave, and Newspapers.com, but often with little success in locating information. Why' Because they are not as familiar with genealogy as we are. There is also a language barrier as many do not speak English. And until my books were released in American and Europe, no one taught them how to research every service branch for World War II because those resources did not exist.
To help American genealogists connect with European researchers who want to know more about our soldiers, and to help Europeans learn how to use the resources mentioned above, I am launching a program called Honoring World War II Service Together, on 29 August 2016.
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