When a U.S. monuments commission removed a plaque invoking the history of segregation at a Netherlands cemetery for fallen American World War II soldiers, mainstream media outlets characterized the move as an attempt to minimize the contributions of black servicemen. CNN reported that a “display about Black soldiers in World War II” had been removed from the U.S. military cemetery, known as Margraten.
In reality, the commission removed a single panel likening the war African-American soldiers were fighting against the Nazis to the struggle for civil rights in the United States—they were “fighting a war on two fronts,” it stated—and swapped in a new panel acknowledging the contributions of the 26-year-old African-American soldier Willmore Mack, who died liberating the Dutch city of Venlo in 1944. The panel can be seen in a video posted to social media earlier this week by President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Joseph Popolo.
When the panel invoking the “two front” battle—added in May 2024 during the Biden administration by then-American Battle Monuments Commission secretary Charles Djou—was removed, mainstream media characterized the move as an attempt to erase the contributions of black servicemen. CNN, for example, stated that as a result of the panel’s removal, visitors “haven’t been able to learn about the soldiers’ work.” The headline of a Guardian piece stated, “A Dutch war cemetery added displays showing black US soldiers. Then they were quietly removed.”
Buried in the news reports is the admission that the memorial includes four panels highlighting the sacrifices of individual black servicemen. Panels honoring 15 different servicemen rotate throughout the year, the monuments commission told the Washington Free Beacon, and the panel honoring Mack is now on display.
“The awe-inspiring Netherlands American Cemetery is here to honor the incredible sacrifice our troops made in World War II, including the ultimate sacrifice made by many brave African-American soldiers,” Popolo wrote in an X post.
“The displays,” he wrote, “are not here to push an agenda criticizing America. There are 15 panels highlighting the stories of individual soldiers, including the one featured here of Pvt. Willmore Mack of the 784th Tank Battalion, who valiantly gave his life in the campaign of 1944.”
A spokeswoman for the monuments commission told the Free Beacon that the mission of the memorial was to “care for the fallen, to share their stories, and honor the legacy of their service and sacrifice,” and indicated that commemorating the civil rights movement was outside the scope of the organization. “In March, following an internal review, our previous secretary determined this panel, which spoke to a broader experience, did not fall within that commemorative mission and thereby directed its removal.”
The media’s coverage surrounding the display’s removal comes amid claims the Trump administration is erasing history in its efforts to remove progressive politics from American institutions. PBS News Hour characterized Arlington National Cemetery’s move away from classifying the contributions of servicemembers on the basis of race and gender—with pages dedicated to African-American history and women’s history, for example—as a “history purge.” The Trump administration has also said it will begin weeding out progressive ideology that has crept into the Smithsonian Institution, whose National Museum of African American History and Culture contains exhibits that celebrate the violent and anti-Semitic Nation of Islam, the Free Beacon reported.
Popolo indicated the changes made to Netherlands American Cemetery were carried out with the intention of venerating the soldiers’ sacrifices. “Honoring the memory of the heroes buried at [Netherlands American Cemetery], including African-American servicemembers like Pvt. Willmore Mack is something we hold sacred,” Popolo said in the video. “Their courage, sacrifice, and their humanity deserve to be remembered openly, honestly, and fully.”
🇺🇸 Ambassador Popolo shares impressions from his first visit to the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten (@usabmc) and why this place holds such profound significance on both sides of the Atlantic. #ForeverGrateful #80YearsofFreedom pic.twitter.com/WW3ClmLu59
— U.S. Embassy The Hague (@usembthehague) November 18, 2025
“The United States has always been committed to sharing their stories, no matter a person’s rank, race, gender, or creed, and walking these grounds, you feel the weight of those stories,” Popolo said. “Standing before the rows upon rows of white marble markers, you feel the equality, the unity, and shared purpose that binds these heroes to one another and to us.”
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