My father Robert Willem (Rob) Spoelstra unexpectedly passed away on Sunday 8 July, at 86 years of age. As my mother passed away 10 years ago, to me this is the end of a era.
After the funeral, we had some of the bouquets placed along the
Wall of the Missing at the
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Margraten, where he lived close by. This wall commemorates the American soldiers who are still Missing in Action, listing all of their 1,722 names.
While he was too young to be a soldier during WW2, he did live through Japanese internment camps in the former Netherlands East-Indies colony (now Indonesia). After initially being interned with his mother and sister, he was separated from them at the age of 12. When he heard about the Japanese surrender in August 1945, he fled the camp to travel to the last known camp of his father. He was picked up by a British convoy driving trucks with those peculiar back-slanted windows...
Having lived through WW2, he never felt remorse towards his oppressor, but always emphasized the importance of international peace and stability. We felt placing the bouquets is a nice homage to the men who fought for freedom, but never found eternal rest.
Hanno
