Senate and Legislature extend thanks to those caring for graves overseas

Proclamations from the Tioga County Legislature and from the New York State Senate District extend a thanks to John and Carole Schubert, and to Erwin Flohr for caring for six Tioga County World War II fallen heroes that are at rest in Netherlands’ Margraten and Belgium’s Henri-Chappel cemeteries.

The Netherlands American Cemetery is the only cemetery in Holland where more than 8,300 servicemen and women, including four from Tioga County, are buried. 

For 70 years, the Dutch have come to the cemetery to care for the graves of Americans killed in WWII. This includes Erwin Flohr of Helmond, Netherlands for the past decade.  

They come bearing Memorial Day bouquets for men and women they never knew, but whose 8,300 headstones the people of the Netherlands have adopted as their own. 

Tioga County’s four fallen heroes in Margraten include Army Pfc. Edward E. Whalen of Straits Corners, Army Pfc. Glenn A. Warner of Owego, Army Pvt. Walter R. Magee of Lounsberry, and Army Sgt. Richard Hoyt of Candor. Erwin also visits in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium where two from Tioga County are buried – Army 2nd Lt. Albert F. Church of Nichols and Army Pfc. James M. LaDue of Waverly. 

For the American relatives of the fallen, there is an outpouring of gratitude. Graves have been adopted by the Dutch, local schools, companies and military organizations. 

On Friday, June 7, John and Carole Schubert of Owego – on a National WWII Museum Travel Tour starting in the UK and ending in Germany – will personally present Erwin two proclamations of sincere gratitude from the citizens of Owego and Tioga County, and the 52nd Senate District. 

The Chair of the Tioga County Legislature, Martha Sauerbrey, and Senator Fred Akshar felt deeply honored on behalf of their constituents to recognize Erwin for his years of caretaking the honored graves of our fallen heroes. 

At the cemetery’s annual commemoration last year, 6,000 people poured onto the 65 acre burial grounds just a few miles from the German border, including scores of descendents of American war dead. 

Flash back to November 1944, two months after Margraten’s 1,500 residents had been freed from Nazi occupation by the U.S. 30th Infantry Division. 

But the war wasn’t over. In late 1944 and early 1945, thousands of American soldiers would be killed in nearby battles trying to pierce the Germany defense lines. Booby-traps and heavy artillery fire, combined with a ferocious winter, dealt major setbacks to the Allies, who had already suffered losses trying to capture strategic Dutch bridges crossing into Germany during the ill-faded Operation Market Garden. 

Now, the U.S. military needed a place to bury its fallen. The Americans ultimately picked a fruit orchard just outside of Margraten. On the first day of digging, the sight of so many bodies made the men in the 611th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company ill. Right from the start, Margraten embraced the Americans.

After four dark years of occupation, suddenly the Dutch people were free from the Nazis, and they could go back to their normal lives and enjoy freedom. They knew they had to thank the American allies for that. As time went on, upwards to 17,740 American soldiers would be buried in Margraten. 

The first Memorial Day commemoration took place May 29, 1945. Nearly 200 Dutch men, women, and children spent all night arranging flowers and wreaths by the dirt covered graves. By 8 a.m. the road leading into Margraten was jammed with Dutch people.

The Dutch were perceptibly stirred and wept in bowed reverence.  

Sunnybrook Nursery Owner and Landscaper, and retired IBM Owego Senior Engineer John Schubert wrote an email, stating, “With wife Carole we’re are taking a ‘Band of Brothers’ trip starting early in June. Most of the trip is through major WWII battle areas in Europe. We end up visiting a number of cemeteries in Holland and Belgium. Every year you talk about a Dutchman who puts wreaths on some of the Tioga people that were killed during the war. I would like to contact him during our trip.”  

Erwin responded to the Schubert’s by return email. They’ll meet the evening of Wednesday, June 7, the day they arrive in Eindhoven from France. John and Carole will treat Erwin and his family to dinner. 

The Schubert’s were scheduled to arrive in London on Thursday, June 1. On June 7, they’ll depart Bayeux, France and arrive in Eindhoven. On June 8, the tour group goes to and finishes the day at Arnhem and the “Bridge Too Far.”  

On Friday, June 9 in the afternoon the group tours, they will be at Margraten American Cemetery, visiting Easy Company gravesites. From the cemetery they travel to Clervauz, Luxembourg. 

Thanks to Erwin Flohr of Helmond, Netherlands; Owego and Tioga County Never Forgets Her Veterans.