Two informational panels honoring African American soldiers who fought against Nazi Germany during World War II at the American Military Cemetery in the Netherlands have been removed.
There has been no clear explanation regarding when and for what reason the panels were removed.
The cemetery, located in the village of Margraten in the south of the country, buries approximately 8,200 American soldiers, with 1,700 of them listed as missing on memorial panels with their names.
According to the Netherlands-based Black Liberators research project, two panels illustrating the role of Black soldiers in the war and in the liberation of the Netherlands were quietly removed from the visitor center last summer.
The project officials stated that the panels were installed around mid-2024 on the initiative of then US Ambassador to the Netherlands Shefali Razdan Duggal, but were dismantled again during the summer.
INFORMATION WAS NOT GIVEN TO LOCAL OFFICIALS
Local authorities in the Limburg region indicated that this action was taken without being informed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
An anonymous local official told Newsweek, “We learned about the removal of the panels over the weekend, and we can only guess why.”
The head of the Black Liberators project, Theo Bovens, confirmed the situation and said, “Whatever the reason, restoring these panels is important because the contribution of African American soldiers to the freedom of the Netherlands is significant.”
Hélène Chaulin, the ABMC spokesperson in Paris, stated to the Dutch press that the panels were removed as part of “a rotating exhibition plan”.
Chaulin said, “The panels were not completely removed, they are just not on display now as part of the exhibition rotation.”
However, Black Liberators officials found this explanation insufficient.
The organization stated, “The removal of the panel telling the story of George H. Pruitt can be explained, but no reason has been provided for why the panel depicting racial discrimination in the army was taken down.”
PRUITT AND DISCRIMINATION PANEL
One of the panels told the story of George H. Pruitt, a telephone engineer born in New Jersey. Pruitt lost his life in 1945 while trying to rescue a friend in Bremen, Germany; he was 23 years old when he died.
The other panel addressed the US Army’s policy of racial discrimination and the journey of Black soldiers who participated in the civil rights movement after the war. The US Army officially ended discrimination in 1948.
According to the report, during the administration of President Donald Trump, pressure on programs promoting “diversity and inclusion” increased in the US.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also adopted a similar approach during the Pentagon restructuring process.
In March, Arlington National Cemetery removed online content about the history of Black and female soldiers; after public backlash, the Pentagon restored a page honoring Black Vietnam veteran Major General Charles Calvin Rogers.
According to Dutch media, local and regional governments in the Limburg province are considering an alternative memorial or permanent panel to honor African American soldiers.
