Remembering

This Memorial Day I'm thankful to all who gave their lives in defense of our way of life, but in particular to William Edward Cramsie who's spirit has taken me to places I could not have imagined five years ago. I wrote recently about my visit to Cambridge American Cemetery and the solemnity of that beautiful resting place. The closest I could get to Bill Cramsie was to touch his name inscribed on the Wall of the Missing. Six others of the 416th Bomb Group are still interred in that hallowed ground. Fifty former members of the 416th are either interred or memorialized on Walls of the Missing at eight different American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries in Europe. Many of those lost during the war were temporarily interred and transferred to burial sites in the U.S. after the war. George Steed, also mentioned recently in this blog, was one of those. The native Virginian now rests near home in Arlington Cemetery.

One of the many "connections" that my encounter with Bill Cramsie produced was with the 416th Bomb Group itself. For reasons that will likely never be explained adequately, I have been drawn to this group of men as if I were a part of their experience. Of course, I was not, but their spirit touches me almost every day in some mysterious way. Just today, I received an email from a man in The Netherlands, Ron Wintjens, who cares very much about these same people and about one in particular. Ron's email came to me completely unexpected and I have no idea how or why he chose to write to me. Rather than summarize, I'll post his words here precisely as they were received:

"Dear Sir,

My name is Ron Wintjens and I'm from the Netherlands. Since several years I take care of the grave of one of the pilots of 416th bomber group: 1Lnt. Francis W. Demand. After he got killed nearby Jülich (Germany) 29th of september 1944, he is burried at the American War Cemetary at Margraten in the south of the Netherlands.

I know he had only one sister, who was married at that time with a businessman. Because of his young age (22) Francis had no wife and kids. Every special occassion I put flowers on his grave and say a short prayer, but I sometimes feel I should undertake more action. Maybe there are veterans who knew Francis or even flew with him. Maybe one of these veterans want to get in touch with me or have a simple request. Maybe one of these guys know relatives of Francis and maybe they are interested in getting in touch with me. No obligations, but maybe I can do someone a favor. I'll keep on taking care for his grave. It's an Honor and I'm glad that I've the opportunity to do something, however small, back.

Greetings Ron Wintjens"

I can't think of anything that could have touched me more on this Memorial Day than this email straight from the heart of someone who still remembers the sacrifice of one 416th member more than 65 years ago and takes the time to honor their memory. The Netherlands American Cemetery is today the resting place of more than 8,300 Americans including Lt. Francis DeMand, a pilot who flew with Bill Cramsie in the 671st Bomb Squadron.

One can only wonder how many people like Ron Wintjens still honor these 416th war heroes. I know of a few. In addition to the touching story above, a simple private memorial within a wooded area, at the site where George Steed died, is still maintained by a local French citizen. Residents near the site in Belgium where Rooney, Anderson and most of their crew died have either erected or plan to erect a small monument at that place. I'd be pleased to hear of other personal memorials to 416th members that readers here might know of.

Thanks to Missouriman4 whose touching video tribute to Arlington is linked above. The other two links are to videos hosted by ABMC.