About
The Forever Promise Project is a partnership between two nonprofit organizations: the American Monuments Men and Women Foundation and the Dutch Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten (Stichting Adoptie Graven Amerikaanse Begraafplaats Margraten). Its mission is to connect American families with the Dutch adopter of their fallen loved one and raise awareness about this unique forever promise forged in World War II.
Monuments Men and Women Foundation
Monuments Men and Women Foundation was founded in 2007 by Robert M. Edsel to recognize and honor the work of the soldier-scholars who, during World War II, protected and safeguarded Western civilization’s most important cultural treasures from armed conflict. It continues these heroes’ mission educating the public on the importance of preserving our shared cultural heritage, and locating and returning missing works of art. The Foundation is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Humanities Medal, America’s highest honor for work in the humanities, presented by President of the United States George W. Bush, at the White House.
Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten
​​
Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten (Stichting Adoptie Graven Amerikaanse Begraafplaats Margraten) was created in February 1945 to encourage Dutch citizens to express gratitude for their American liberators by adopting their graves. To qualify, volunteers agreed to regularly visit the adopted grave and remain in touch with the soldier’s next of kin in the United States where next of kin information was available. The campaign gained massive support. By the second postwar Memorial Day in 1946, 100 percent of the nearly 18,000 graves had been adopted, but next of kin information was available for only twenty percent of those buried. To this day, few Americans know about the Dutch grave adoption program. Some are not even aware that a family member is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery.
