Family connections sought for WWII cemetery in The Netherlands

The Forever Promise Project seeks to link more U.S. families to devoted Dutch grave adopters.

Dutch citizens have been adopting the graves of fallen American heroes since they were first laid to rest in a temporary military cemetery in Margraten, The Netherlands, more than 80 years ago.

Those adoptions have since been handed down, one generation to the next, and remain sacred to some 10,000 who still tend to the graves and keep a tradition of gratitude alive at the Netherlands American Cemetery, for the soldiers who died liberating that region of Europe from Nazi Germany during World War II.

However, only about 20% of the grave adopters have contact information for families of the fallen. The Forever Promise Project is a collaboration between the Monuments Men and Women Foundation and the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten.

New York Times No. 1 best-selling author Robert Edsel spoke at the 106^th American Legion National Convention Aug. 27 and called on Americans whose ancestors are interred there or listed among the missing to make connections.

“Every state in the United States is represented, from the 113 sons of Alabama to the 16 sons of Wyoming, but the Dutch adopters are only in contact with 2,000 out of the 10,000 Americans buried at Margraten,” Edsel told the crowd in Tampa. “We want to see that change. We are using the visibility of my book and events such as this to encourage Americans, to encourage you, to visit the foreverpromise.org website, search the database … and if you have a relative memorialized there, complete a short questionnaire that will enable our foundations to connect the other 8,000 Dutch adopters to the American families.”

Edsel, author of four nonfiction books including “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and The Greatest Treasure Hunt” which became a hit Hollywood film in 2014, published “Remember Us” in 2025, which tells the story of the war through by profiling liberators and the liberated of the region who continue to revere the sacrifice of the Americans.