Monuments Men and Women Foundation

Fulfill a Promise 80 Years in the Making 

Support the Forever Promise Project to honor and remember our North Texas soldiers who gave their lives for freedom. Rooted in a tradition that began in 1945, the Forever Promise is not only about remembrance. It’s about honoring their sacrifice through a living connection between American families and Dutch adopters who have cared for these soldiers' graves for generations.

The Forever Promise Project

In the final days of World War II, the Dutch people made a solemn promise: to care for the graves of the American soldiers who gave their lives to liberate the Netherlands – forever. 

Since 1945, every single grave at the Netherlands American Cemetery has been adopted by a Dutch family. Eight decades later, this extraordinary act of remembrance has never wavered. 

Yet one part of that vision remains unfinished: connecting Dutch adopters with the American families of the fallen. Today, while every grave remains faithfully adopted, fewer than 25% of adopters are in touch with their soldier’s next of kin.

The Forever Promise Project is working to change that!

Led by the Monuments Men and Women Foundation (Dallas, Texas), in partnership with the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten (Netherlands), the project seeks to fulfill the final piece of that promise: creating lasting connections between today’s Dutch adopters and the American families of their soldiers.

To do this, the project has created and is continually updating a free, searchable database of all 10,000+ U.S. service members buried or memorialized at Margraten.

Now the focus is to:

• Raise awareness of this powerful legacy of gratitude.
• Conduct ongoing research to find and verify American next of kin.
• Facilitate meaningful connections between Dutch adopters and American families.
  
  

North Texas Soldiers 

More than 100 young men from North Texas gave their lives during World War II and are buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery. Who remembers them an ocean away?The Netherlands American Cemetery. (Monuments Men and Women Foundation collection)

The answer: Dutch citizens

For 80 years, out of enduring gratitude for liberation, Dutch families have adopted and cared for the graves of these American soldiers—laying flowers, remembering birthdays, and honoring them each Memorial Day and on the anniversary of their sacrifice.

Yet today, only a handful of North Texas families are connected with the Dutch adopters of their loved one’s grave. That means nearly 100 North Texas families may not know that someone across the Atlantic has been keeping their soldier’s memory alive for eight decades.

You can help close that gap—one American hero, one family, one connection at a time. Together, we can fulfill a Forever Promise forged in World War II.

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“To know that someone will think of my brother and that he will never be forgotten is earth shattering to me... What a wonderful gift you have given to our family.”

 -- June Brandt, 93, Texas.

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At the Netherlands American Cemetery, the family of June Brandt meets the Dutch adopters of her brother, Staff Sgt. William Durham West Jr., who was killed in action on March 20, 1945. (Monuments Men and Women Foundation collection)

One Soldier, One Family, One Connection

The Forever Promise Project isn’t just about connecting names on a list. It is about completing a vow made in the final days of World War II—a vow the Dutch have kept for 80 years: that these American soldiers would never be forgotten.

This project offers American families the comfort of knowing their loved one is remembered not just in history, but in someone’s heart.

Your Gift Can Help Connect Another Family

Every gift supports the meticulous research, outreach, and coordination it takes to make one more connection.

But your gift is more than funding. It is a bridge between generations and across continents. It is a hero remembered. It is a promise fulfilled.