Congratulations to Fred, the Find a Grave® featured volunteer of the month for October 2021! We’d like to recognize Fred for his work memorializing soldiers and civilians who died during World War II who are interred in the Netherlands.
Fred has spent many hours taking pictures and adding them to memorials, particularly in the German war cemetery at Ysselsteyn. Fred explains that, “The goal of these memorials is to be a tribute to the fallen soldiers and civilians. These memorials don’t include fascist ideas and they don’t glorify war. They should honor the fallen and they should remind those still alive that peace is the greatest good on earth.”
Fred says, “I have always been interested in everything relating to the Second World War. From collecting memorabilia like helmets and insignia to visiting different War cemeteries around Europe. This eventually led me to finding out about Find a Grave through Google many years ago. To my surprise, lots of descendants and relatives all over the world started reacting to the memorials I added. Soon after that, I started having interviews in local newspapers.”
One experience Fred remembers was “a visit from an immigrated German family now living in the United States. They came all the way to Ysselsteyn to visit the grave of their beloved one. This also happened for families from Poland and Norway. Thanks to my additions to the memorials, they came to visit as well. They never knew that their relative was buried in Ysselsteyn. It took them 75 years to find this out through Find a Grave!”
Here are a few examples of memorials Fred has added from Ysselsteyn:
Thank you for your work Fred. We are so glad you are a member of Find a Grave and know that the photos you have added and the memorials you have created have been, and will continue to be, a great help to many people around the world. Our accolades to you for your extraordinary work and for being Find a Grave’s volunteer of the month!
Do you know a Find a Grave member who would make a good Volunteer of the Month? We welcome your suggestions. Please send an email with details of their work to feedback@findagrave.com.
A gracious thank you to Fred, from all the families who can’t travel to these cemeteries themselves. You are a remarkable man .
If I can figure out how to do this process I would love to start adding names from the cemeteries around me here in Kentucky! We can be driving down the highway and suddenly there on the side of the road out of no where is a little cemetery!
Well done, Fred. I appreciate all of your hard work.
Thank you Fred. What a wonderful gift you are creating for the descendants of these fallen soldiers. Everyone who ever lived deserves to be remembered by someone.
Thank you Fred for all your tireless efforts.
grote proficiat vanuit Flanders Fields
Well done Fred, you deserve it!
Thanks to your efforts, relatives can still visit the graves of their loved ones virtually. There are also many researchers worldwide who can draw information from the database and the extra data and photos you added.
Also through our cooperation (Stichting Oorlogsslachters | War Victims Foundation) there is a lot of extra information that we can sometimes bring to the surface.
Congratulations again and keep it up and don’t let negative reactions stop you from doing this great work…
I have worked with Fred for many years and respect him for his dedication in remembering fallen soldiers and civilians now resting in the Netherlands. Future generations will be grateful.
Thank you Fred
Thank you for your enduring work for FAG Veterans. God Bless You!