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How many American soldiers are buried at Margraten Cemetery?
Executive Summary
The most authoritative counts in the provided material converge on about 8,300 American burial sites at the Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten, with the commonly cited precise figure 8,301 graves and a concurrently reported 1,722 names on the Tablets/Walls of the Missing for those not recovered. Minor variations appear in different accounts—figures such as 8,288 and rounded estimates like approximately 8,200—reflecting differences in reporting conventions, rounding, and whether small numbers of U.S. servicemen buried in other Dutch cemeteries are counted alongside Margraten [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why the numbers cluster around 8,300 but still disagree
The analyses show a tight cluster of counts: 8,301, 8,288, and “about 8,200,” all describing Americans buried at Margraten. The 8,301 figure appears repeatedly and is presented as a count of permanent graves at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial [1] [2] [5]. The slightly lower 8,288 appears in one dataset that pairs that number with the same 1,722 missing names on the Walls of the Missing, suggesting a different cut of the cemetery register or a snapshot from a different administrative update [3]. The approximate 8,200 references likely reflect rounding or reporting shorthand used by news outlets or projects summarizing the cemetery’s holdings [6] [7]. These differences are consistent with common archival practices—administrative updates, identifications, and transfer of remains can shift counts by a few dozen, and rounding is routine in public-facing reporting.
2. The Tablets/Walls of the Missing: a consistent supplementary count
Across the sources, 1,722 missing servicemen are recorded on the cemetery’s Tablets or Walls of the Missing, a distinct memorial element from the physical graves. Multiple entries reiterate that the cemetery pairs the graves count with this separate tally of missing U.S. service members, and the 1,722 figure is reported consistently alongside both the 8,301 and 8,288 grave totals [1] [3] [5]. The separation between interred graves and inscribed missing explains why two numbers are always given together: one denotes physical burials and the other commemorative inscriptions for those whose remains were not recovered. Any reconciliation of totals requires treating these as complementary—not competing—counts.
3. Small additional burials and why they matter to aggregate totals
One source explicitly notes that Margraten holds 8,301 American graves and that another eleven American soldiers are buried in smaller cemeteries across the Netherlands, indicating that some U.S. war dead are interred outside the main Margraten site and sometimes included in broader Dutch or U.S. tallies [2]. This detail explains how aggregate national or project counts can differ: some reports sum all U.S. graves in the Netherlands, while others report only the Margraten cemetery proper. The presence of those eleven graves is small relative to the overall figure but is a clear procedural reason why one source might report 8,301 for Margraten specifically while another might present a slightly different national subtotal.
4. Race-specific research and the separate 174 figure
Several analyses mention a separate count of 174 African American soldiers who are either buried or memorialized at Margraten, a figure emerging from a focused research project (the Black Liberators) and covered in news reporting; this figure is reported alongside the broader graves and missing tallies [6] [7]. This subset count does not contradict the overall grave total; it is a demographic breakdown intended to highlight the racial composition and historical visibility of Black service members in World War II interments and memorials. The distinct purpose of that research—documenting and publicizing the role and remembrance of Black soldiers—explains why the 174 appears in some sources but not in basic inventory counts.
5. Dates, source convergence, and what to take away
Where available, dates in the supplied material show the most recent explicit publication timestamp as 2025-02-21 for a landmark/cemetery summary [2] and a 2024-12-28 administrative note [8]. Most items lack precise publication dates in the supplied set, but the repetition of 8,301 graves + 1,722 missing across independently labeled entries indicates strong convergence among recent accounts [1] [2] [5] [4]. The prudent factual takeaway is that Margraten is home to roughly 8,300 U.S. war graves with 1,722 names on the Tablets/Walls of the Missing, while small discrepancies in published totals stem from counting conventions, rounding, and whether outlying graves in other Dutch cemeteries are bundled into national tallies [1] [3] [2].