Brookwood and Cambridge: Places of remembrance

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott Wakefield
  • Det. 4, Air Force News Agency
BROOKWOOD AND CAMBRIDGE, England (AFPN) --  More than a half-million Americans were killed during the two World Wars, and 468 military members from World War I and 3,812 warriors from World War II have their final resting place in England.

Just after the first World War, Army Gen. John Pershing started the practice of allowing America's dead to be buried in cemeteries overseas.

Brookwood American Military Cemetery was one of eight operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission for World War I casualties, and Cambridge American Cemetery is one of 14 for World War II.

Frank Kaufmann is the superintendent of the Brookwood Cemetery. It is Mr. Kaufmann's job to make sure the grounds are taken care of for the 12,000 annual visitors to the cemetery. He wants it to remain an honorable and respected place to signify the great sacrifice of those interred there.

"They sacrificed their life for us to be where we're at now, living in a free world," he said.

Mr. Kaufmann cannot do all the work himself. Stephen Leigh, a British national, has worked at the cemetery for more than three years. When he first heard about the job, he was pretty apprehensive to start work at a cemetery, but he said he has "grown to love it."

"They fought for our freedom. I like the fact that it's an honorable job, and I'm doing something important for fallen heroes, and hopefully not forgotten heroes," he said.

At Cambridge, David Bedford has been working with the American Battle Monuments Commission for eight years. The cemetery superintendent said the cemetery receives about 50,000 visitors per year, despite it being one of the smallest of the World War II cemeteries. Though most of the cemeteries guests are from an older generation, they do get the occasional teen.

"It might be because of curiosity, and it might be because they've talked to their parents or grandparents and they understand a little bit of the significance," he said.

Curiosity seekers are not the only ones that make their way to the cemetery though. People who were alive and in the area during the war sometimes make their way back here, like CBS journalist Walter Cronkite. Mr. Cronkite served as a war correspondent during the war and worked out of Royal Air Force Molesworth about 25 minutes from the cemetery.

"A major part of World War II was written right here in these few acres, where so many who lost their lives rest, permanently," he said.

He said he believes it is a place where all Americans who are in the area should visit and pay their respect.

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