The Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, just east of Maastricht, is the final resting place for over 8,200 American soldiers, with another 1,700 listed as missing and memorialized on site, according to the ABMC. About 1 million African American soldiers served in Europe during World War II, and 174 are buried or honored at Margraten, per the Dutch research project Black Liberators. It is the only U.S. military cemetery in the Netherlands.
On Nov. 10, a spokesperson for the Black Liberators project confirmed the panels had been removed. The exact timing of their removal is unclear. The panels were first added to the visitor center in mid-2024, partly due to efforts by then-U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Shefali Razdan Duggal, but were “removed again earlier this summer,” the spokesperson said.
“We have to guess for the reasons,” said Theo Bovens, a Dutch lawmaker who also serves as the president of the Black Liberators.
The removal appears linked to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, a stance that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended in reshaping the Pentagon and the U.S. military. In March, Arlington National Cemetery removed references to Black and female service members from its website, while the Pentagon reinstated a page honoring U.S. Army Major General Charles Calvin Rogers, a Black Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, following public outcry.
News of the removal of the Margraten panels has sparked widespread reaction on social media.
