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In remembrance of the lives lost during World War I, dozens of French,
American, Dutch and German volunteers arrived hours before nightfall to place
candles at 3,500 headstones in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France, Nov. 11, 2017 – known as Remembrance Day in
France.
In the rain, volunteers lit candles in two sections of the cemetery in
preparation for a full luminary in September 2018 to mark the centennial of the
Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I.
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November 11, 2017 - A candle is lit, at the Meuse-Argonne American
Cemetery and Memorial near the Argonne Forest in France, which is
Remembrance Day in France. Volunteers worked with quiet reverence
for fallen service members from the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World
War I. Overall, 26,000 Americans died in what turned out to be the
longest-lasting battle of World War I. (Defense Media Activity photo by
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Michael McNabb)
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“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come and help light the candles for
these soldiers in remembrance, because they are not forgotten; we are still
honoring and remembering them,” said U.S. Air Force Reserve Maj. Holly Cookson,
the executive officer for Headquarters U.S. European Command’s Interagency
Partnering Directorate. “Being here is scared. You know, we go off when our
country asks us to, and we all wear our flags, whether it be on our arms or
flown inside the hangars of our plane and we hope that we can make it home. And
these people didn’t, so we come here to remember and honor them.”
With more than 14,000 thousand Americans buried at Meuse-Argonne American
Cemetery, it is the largest final resting place for fallen U.S. service members
in Europe. Overall, 26,000 Americans died in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive – and
most of them are buried in the cemetery.
“It is hard to describe, it was such an emotional sight. I was working with a
team with some of the Dutch, German and French and was told how a local townsman
had wanted to put this event together. The scale of this multinational event was
moving,” Cookson said.
Involving 1.2 million American Soldiers, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive is the
largest offensive in U.S. military history as well as the bloodiest battle of
World War I for the American Expeditionary Force. Beginning on Sept. 26, 1918,
the offensive lasted 47 days and was part of the Hundred Days Offensive that
ended the war on Nov. 11, 1918, with the Armistice of Compiegne.
“It is important to remember, not just for the 99th or 100th anniversary, but
always honor the sacrifices these Americans made in Europe; I am proud to be the
third generation of my family to have served in the U.S. Army. My grandfather
during World War I and my father during the Second World War, and then myself in
the eighties during much easier conditions,” said Carl Siebentritt, an American
volunteer from the Stuttgart military community in Germany. .
After the return of veterans from World War I, the stories that returned with
them from their war experiences echo still in the families they came back to.
“Part of the reason I am here is because my grandfather, Carl Siebentritt,
fought in this region with the units represented here; he survived the war,
although injured from a gas attack. Being here honors his memory as well as the
memory of his comrades and fellow soldiers who did not make it back and are
buried here,” Siebentritt said. “What is also interesting about this place for
me is that my grandfather, being a first-generation German immigrant with his
very German last name, was fighting against his cousins on these frontlines so
it was very literally brother against brother for many Americans in this fight.”
Overall, the luminary, followed by the reading of a selection of names of
service members interred at the cemetery, is a reminder of those who served
almost a century ago , establishing a legacy that stretches into the modern era.
“It was important for our two sons to associate the names of the soldiers who
fell with each of the candles we placed on tombstones, to identify real people
who suffered, fought and died for their country,” said Siebentritt. “Next year
is the anniversary of the end of World War I and I would encourage Americans who
are here in Europe to take an interest in and attend the events that will be
going on for the centennial. My family and I will be.”
Courtesy Story
Defense Media Activity - Forward Center Europe
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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