Outrage in the Netherlands Over U.S. Cemetery's Removal of Black WWII Troop Tributes

In the Netherlands, residents and visitors have expressed their anger after a U.S. military cemetery quietly took down two informational displays honoring Black soldiers who played a significant role in World War II.

This spring, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. body responsible for caring for overseas memorial sites, removed these panels from the visitor center at Margraten's American Cemetery. This site is the resting place for over 8,000 American servicemen and is located in the scenic hills near the Belgian and German borders.

The removal is said to have been influenced by a policy shift initiated by President Trump's orders that terminated diversity and inclusion efforts, which he announced as a move away from a 'woke' society during an address to Congress.

This decision has deeply disappointed Dutch locals and U.S. families who commemorate American troops by maintaining their graves, and the lack of an official explanation has been particularly irksome.

The U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Joe Popolo, seemingly backed the removal, stating on social media after visiting the cemetery that the displays at Margraten should not support narratives that critique America. However, further comments were not provided by Popolo.

One of the removed panels highlighted the story of George H. Pruitt, a Black soldier who perished while trying to save a friend from drowning in 1945. The other provided context about the racial segregation policy prevalent in the U.S. military during the war.

During WWII, about a million Black soldiers served, often in segregated units and performing laborious tasks, though some participated in combat. It was an all-Black unit that buried soldiers in Margraten during the harsh 'Hunger Winter' of 1944-45 in the German-occupied Netherlands.

Among those upset by the panels' removal is Cor Linssen, who is of mixed Dutch and African-American descent. He grew up nearby, always aware that his father was a Black soldier, despite only learning his identity later in life.

"When I was born, the nurse thought something was amiss due to my coloration," Linssen shared. "I stood out at school for being the only child of a darker complexion."

Linssen, along with other children of Black soldiers now in their senior years, visited the cemetery in early 2025, particularly to see the panels commemorating their heritage.

"These panels are significant to our history," Linssen argued. "They deserve to be restored."

For months, people were puzzled about the missing panels until media outlets the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Dutch News uncovered through Freedom of Information requests that Trump's diversity policies spurred their removal.

Neither the White House nor the American Battle Monuments Commission responded to press queries regarding this disclosure. The ABMC had previously informed the Associated Press that the panel on segregation did not align with their commemorative goals.

Moreover, they explained that the panel about soldier Pruitt was replaced with one about Leslie Loveland, a white soldier who died in Germany in 1945, and is also buried at Margraten.

Theo Bovens, head of the Black Liberators foundation and a Dutch senator, voiced his surprise that the U.S. commission deemed the panels unfit since they were installed just the previous year without issue.

Bovens, from the Margraten region, is among the many locals who care for the cemetery's graves, a tradition where families adopt a grave, often for generations, placing flowers on meaningful dates. He noted there's a long waiting list for those wishing to adopt U.S. soldiers' graves.

Both the city and provincial authorities at Margraten are demanding the reinstatement of the panels. Recently, a local TV program recreated and placed the panels outside the cemetery, only for the police to subsequently remove them. The program is now searching for a more lasting installation spot.

Meanwhile, the Black Liberators group is pursuing a permanent site to honor the Black soldiers who fought for the Netherlands' liberation.

In front of Eijsden-Margraten City Hall, a modest park is named after Jefferson Wiggins, a Black soldier who, at the age of 19, was tasked with digging many of the graves in Margraten.

Wiggins' memoir, shared posthumously in 2014, details his experiences of laying to rest his white comrades with whom he was not permitted to socialise during life.

When Black troops arrived in Europe to serve in World War II, they were met with acceptance from Europeans, including the Dutch, who recognized their valiant efforts," remarked Linda Hervieux, an author whose research focuses on Black servicemen during the war and their subsequent treatment.

The removal of these historical narratives, Hervieux suggests, is part of a broader history of erasing the contributions of people of color from American history.