MARGRATEN, NETHERLANDS — The grave of Point Pleasant native John “Jack” R. Carleton, who died fighting in World War II, is still tenderly cared for overseas in the Netherlands.
Last week, The Ocean Star was contacted by Richard Syen and Wilma Syen-Meijers, of Maastricht, Netherlands, who participate in an “adopt a grave” program. They first adopted his grave in 2017.
Approximately 12.5 miles outside Maastricht is a village called Margraten. During the war, the United States military sought to find friendly ground rather than enemy soil to bury its fallen soldiers.
The American government found 30 acres of farmland near Margraten, which the Dutch government let be used to lay those fallen men and women to rest. There was also a small area where German and Russian soldiers were buried.
This was meant to be a temporary arrangement – at the time, bad weather and the clay soil made the burials difficult. At one time, there were as many as 500 soldiers’ bodies being transferred to the cemetery a day, according to Syen-Meijers. Each soldier was temporarily buried with a glass jar that contained their papers and belongings. Wooden crosses originally marked these graves.
When the war ended, there were 17,742 American soldiers buried at the cemetery, along with 1,026 Allied soldiers and 3,075 German soldiers. More would be buried in the cemetery in the months that followed.
At the time, local residents were not allowed to visit the site. But many people from the area began to tend and look after the graves and place flowers on them. Some local residents even knew the fallen soldier they “adopted,” as some soldiers would have stayed at their homes during the war or befriended them. Often, particular soldier grave “adoptions” have stayed in the family and been passed on through the generations for almost 80 years.
In 1947, the cemetery became a permanent cemetery named the American Military Cemetery Margraten (AMC Margraten). The American government moved the graves of the Allied and German soldiers, which still left approximately 18,000 American soldiers in the cemetery.
In 1948, the cemetery was redesigned, with thousands of soldiers’ remains repatriated and 8,302 soldiers buried permanently at Margraten. Over the years, the cemetery became as it is today. Besides those graves, there are also 1,722 names on the Wall of the Missing.
“Besides adopting Jack’s grave, my husband and I also adopted the names of two World War II pilots on the Wall of the Missing, and we look after a second grave that was adopted by one of our neighbors,” said Syen-Meijers.
Five times each year, the couple places flowers at the graves and the wall: on the soldier’s birthday, the day they died, on Liberation Day on May 5, Memorial Day and Christmas.
“This American Military Cemetery is a sad place but also a pleasure of life and of new friendships,” said Syen-Meijers via email. “Because of taking part in the adoptee program and looking into the history of the men we look after, the men whose names we still say and whose memory we want to keep alive, we meet new people
and make new friendships all over the world. John R. Carleton, who is honored in Point Pleasant, is also not forgotten in my part of the world and his memory will live on.”
Carleton served as an assistant gunner and mortar man in the 120th infantry regiment, 30th infantry division Company G, June 1944 in France, Germany, Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge. He was killed in action at the age of 22 during a brief artillery barrage in a small German town. He had just crossed the Ruhr River a couple of days earlier.
He and a fellow soldier were trying to scrounge up extra food when the artillery hit. Carleton was struck in the head by a small piece of shrapnel. It is believed he was killed instantly. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, according to honorstates.org.
BECOMING ADOPTEES
The AMC Margraten is located next to a major road that runs from Maatricht to Aachen, Germany. Syen-Meijers said, “It is not unusual for people from Maastricht to go shopping in Aachen.” Maastricht is about 30 to 40 minutes from the German border and five to 10 miles from the Belgium border.
“My friends and I would sometimes take the local bus to go shopping in Aachen and we would pass the cemetery because you can see part of it from the main road,” said Syen-Meijers. “I always wondered about those white crosses I could see surrounded by these big beautiful rhododendrons that had the most beautiful colors in spring. But I never went to visit the cemetery. I guess I didn’t think I could.”
Many years later, her husband, Richard, passed the cemetery in their car and she told him about her wondering about these crosses and he said that anyone could visit the cemetery. Fast forward a few days later, and the couple did visit.
She said when a person turns into the cemetery from the main road, they come to a big avenue that has fields and lots of trees on either side. At the end, they come to a small parking lot and from there, they get to the cemetery.
She added, “First you come to this area where there is a long rectangular pond. This pond has pink cherry blossom trees on either side and just behind those trees are the Wall of the Missing. At the end of the pond is a statue and behind that is a big tower that has a chapel within. You have to climb a few steps to get to the field with all those white crosses and Stars of David from all those fallen soldiers.”
She said the first time she saw that field of crosses and stars, tears ran down her cheeks.
“It was so peaceful and quiet there. You can hear the wind through the trees and the birds,” said Syen-Meijers. “Richard and I walked around the cemetery and on our way back to the car, we met a man that told us that there was this adoption program.”
As soon as they got home, they got the proper paperwork and sent it out.
“Walking around that cemetery, we realized that these young men and women buried there gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy today. Without their ultimate sacrifice, we wouldn’t be living the life we enjoy now,” Syen-Meijers said, explaining why she and her husband decided to adopt a grave.
After some time, the couple got two envelopes with the adoption papers of two pilots on the Wall of the Missing. Because all graves were adopted, they just started with an adoption program for those on the Wall of the Missing.
Richard Syen adopted Paul J. Schmalenbach, a B-17 pilot with the 349th Bomber Squadron, 100th Bomber Group Heavy. His plane got shot on his first mission and crashed in the North Sea near the German Island of Wangerooge. Some of his crew survived but he did not.
Syen-Meijers was given the adoption of Norman E. Schulte, a P-47D pilot with the 395th Fighter Squadron, 368 Fighter Group. His plane got hit and he had to jump out just outside Geilenkirchen, Germany. He was never heard from again.
Years later, Syen-Meijers found a picture of Schulte in front of his plane, which had her name painted on it. She said, “I have taken this as a sign and it is now my mission to find him. But it is hard to find any info from German authorities.”
A year after adopting Schmalenbach and Schulte, approximately a week before Memorial Day, the couple received another envelope, this time with the adoption paper for John “Jack” R. Carleton, who is buried at AMC Margraten at plot G row 7 grave 2.
“We didn’t expect this but we were so honored and happy to be adopting an actual grave,” said Syen-Meijers.
LEARNING ABOUT JACK
Through her research, Syen-Meijers has found that Carleton was part of the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division (aka The Old Hickory division) 2nd Battalion G Company.
Before Carleton went to war, he married Audrey E. Holly. As far as Syen-Meijers knows, they had no children.
“Years after I found the first photo of Jack, I came across a second one on Ancestry.com of him and Audrey. Again his face is not clearly to be seen. I contacted the lady who posted the photo and she told me that if you look at the photo you can see a big shadow from the person that took the photo and a smaller shadow of a child. That child was her mother,” Syen-Meijers said.
“I told her about me adopting Jack’s grave and that we place flowers on it five times a year, as we also do with the other men. She told me her mother was sitting at the kitchen table and she cried and cried (when she heard this news). She always thought that Jack’s grave was unattended and not cared for. And she was so happy to know that all those many years people were looking after him,” she said.
The couple’s search for more information, connections and photos of Carleton has led the couple all over the internet. Syen-Meijers said that once she was looking at the Facebook page of The Old Hickory division and wrote a comment underneath a photo of four soldiers whose faces are clearly seen and wrote that “I would have loved to know the face of Jack.”
A young man named Ludovic from Thitimont, Belgium, just one hour from where she lives, responded that he, too, did not know what his soldier looks like. She told him that she would see if she could find anything and within no time, Syen-Meijers found military information and several photos of Ludovic’s soldiers. Ludovic and Syen-Meijers became friends.
One very late evening, Syen-Meijers couldn’t sleep and decided to check The Old Hickory Facebook.
“There, almost at the top of the page, I saw the first photo I had from Jack and two photos that looked like a letter and there was a story about Jack and Henry’s father, Henry Sr. (Henry was a friend of Carleton during the war). And in the comments there was a comment of Ludovic saying to Henry that he would go to the AMC Margraten to place flowers on Jack’s grave as it was only one hour from where he lived,” said Syen-Meijers. “I was so surprised to see that. I wrote underneath Ludovic’s comment that Jack was the soldier I had adopted. He replied to Henry that I was the lady that helped him find the info and photos of his soldier. This was so weird. This wasn’t a coincidence. This was meant to be. It was as if Jack and Henry guided me towards Henry Jr. through Ludovic. Later I found out Henry thought exactly the same.”
Henry and Carleton met during the war and became very close friends. According to Henry Jr. his father said that “Jack was his best friend and he never got over his death.”
“Over the years, all the men we look after, whose names we keep saying and whose memory we keep alive became part of me,” said Syen-Meijers. “But Jack is special. It is like there is a special connection between us that I can’t explain. After my father suddenly died I went to a medium. And during this session she said that there was somebody else there and that he was dressed in military uniform but not a Dutch uniform. She described it and it looked like what an American soldier would have worn in World War II. She said that this person told her to thank me. I hadn’t talked to her about Jack and she couldn’t look it up because she only knew my surname. Maybe there is more between Heaven and Earth. She said that he was looking after me.”
On Memorial Day 1949, the Point Pleasant Borough Fire Department unveiled a plaque honoring the 78 members of the department who had served in the armed forces. Three of the men, John Beecroft, Charles Miller and Carleton did not return home, having all died in the war.
Carleton is also memorialized at the Point Pleasant Beach High School where his name is attached to the high school’s Gold Star Honor Roll. Carleton resided on Beaver Dam Road and Anderson Place in the Point Pleasant, and was survived by his wife, Audrey; his parents, Robert and Anna; and sisters Ruth, Isabelle and Roberta.
LEARNING MORE
Wilma Syen-Meijers is always trying to learn more information about Carleton, and has reached out to local organizations in the past, with minimal success.
Two key points about Carleton which Syen-Meijers shared with The Ocean Star is that he was a Point Pleasant Beach High School alumnus and a member of a local fire department.
If any residents have any information about Carleton, contact Wilma Syen-Meijers directly at syenmeyers@gmail.com.
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