Last week, around the celebration of the Dutch liberation day, the US military cemetery at Margraten was adorned with photos of GIs, putting a face to the names on the crosses.

This was an occasion for me to visit and search for the grave that my grandmother had adopted as a young woman. (See my earlier article Jack Beatty’s Purple Heart). I didn’t find it though. Might this be because he was repatriated? I did find the grave of PFC John Beaty (with one T). John was also with the 69th division. The photograph doesn’t look like our Jack, but I’m still confused and curious now to find out more.

The kind volunteers at the cemetery gave me a booklet with plenty of information about their association, so I will get in touch with them to find out more. This is the website of the event called “The Faces of Margraten”.

To be continued…