| Ten days after Patton swung his Third Army north in December 1944, the 609th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company began burying US casualties of the Bulge in this forest clearing. The wooden crosses, muddy mounds, and dirt paths of 1944 have given way to this meticulously dignified setting. Due to visitor traffic, in 1947 General Patton was moved to face his troops, where he remains today. Under the concentric sweep of crosses and Stars of David rest 5075 men and one woman including 22 pairs of brothers and two best friends buried side by side. German POWs and US troops built the structures in 1946 (and did some carving on the trees, too). In 1948 all remains were exhumed for final identification, placed in bronze-finished caskets, and reburied in the final cemetery design. During this time 5,050 of the remains were shipped home for burial at their family's request. German casualties collected by American Graves Reg. troops were placed in Sandweiler cemetery only 2 km away, and were maintained by the same labor crew for many years. |
