Mission Margraten Plus is a non-profit born from the desire of 10 of our WWII veterans to attend the 75th anniversary of the Dutch Liberation in the Netherlands. That 75th anniversary was in May 2020. Our wonderful group of WWII veterans had been invited as guests of honor, to several events marking that milestone anniversary. One of the events was to have King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands in attendance. It was a true honor to be included in that event.
Covid-19 came and cancelled the celebrations and derailed our trip, but not the hopes of the 10 WWII veterans who wanted to go. Those same veterans were excited to hear that the trip had been rescheduled and will happen when it is safe to do so. One of our veterans turned 100 in December 1 turned 100 in March, another in April.  The other veterans are in their late 90’s and all are ready and willing to take the trip. 
Our original goal was to take them to the Netherlands American Military Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten where 8,300 American WWII soldiers were buried and over 1,700 MIA names are honored on the “Wall of the Missing.”  As the need for this cemetery grew, a grave adoption program began, where families from that area took care of the graves of American soldiers. Some families have been doing this for over 75 years and have passed their duties on through the generations. It is there that we would like to meet those families and have our veterans personally thank them for tending to the graves of their fallen Brothers. We are hopeful that events, similar to those on the 75th anniversary, will be planned at the Netherlands American Military Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten in the near future. We are currently fundraising so that our group of WWII veterans can have, “One Last Mission.” A mission of gratitude and peace.