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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Daria Labinsky
Aug 10, 2016 10:52 AM
6 people found this helpfulOur Burial Case Files do not contain photos, but they may include information about your veteran. Here is a description from our catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/595318
To request a copy (fees charged) contact:
National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL)
P.O. Box 38757
St. Louis, MO 63138
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Dear Daria,
Thank you so much! I will send a request to the National Archives.
Best regards from the Netherlands,
Marita
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Daria Labinsky
Aug 10, 2016 3:59 PM
1 person found this helpfulMy apologies, Marita. The records I sent you the link for are from WWI, not WWII. But we will be getting the casualty files from WWII throughout the next year, so if you try back in 6 months or so we should be able to help you.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
No problem, Daria! I will have a look again in 6 months.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
What is a Burial Case File?
Is that different than an IDPF?
Dave
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
6 people found this helpfulIt looks like Fold3 has some details about him, including his Army serial number, his branch, race/ethnicity and previous occupation. This can be accessed at here: Fold3 Profile for Thurston E Eskelin. Fold3 is a paid subscription site with digitized military records. You can access any of this information for free at a National Archives location.
Service personnel files usually do not have photos in them, but you might try requesting his service personnel file. Since he was discharged/killed in action before 1954, these records are archival and can be requested by the general public. It is possible his personnel records were affected by the 1973 fire, but it is worth a shot. You can find out more about requesting military service records here: Request Your Military Service Records.
Finally, you might see if there's a unit photo for him. His unit, as far as I can tell from Fold3 is the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. You might try contacting the Still Pictures Division to see if they have any photographs of his unit that might contain Mr. Eskelin. They can be contacted at stillpix@nara.gov.
Best of luck!
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Hello Ann,
Thank you so much! I have some more work to do
.Best regards from the Netherlands,
Marita
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
1 person found this helpfulHello Ann,
Just to let you know: the Still Pictures Division was very quick in responding. I already received a letter from them after a short time. Unfortunately, there were no pictures of Thurston's unit available, they wrote.
I also have another question concerning the Fold 3 file that you mentioned: It says that Thurston's race/ethnicity was Filipino? According to the information that I have the family is originally from Finland. Or did I misinterpret something?
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
3 people found this helpfulHi Marita -
Thanks for following up! It's always good to hear from our researchers.
It is entirely probable that that record is a typo. There are two records for Thurston on Fold3, one of which lists his race as Filipino, another which does not list it. When doing a quick search on Ancestry, I found an entry for Thurston in the 1920 Census which puts his father's birthplace as Finland and his mother's as Sweden, so I think you interpreted everything correctly and something got transcribed incorrectly on Fold3.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Hi Ann,
Coming back to the typo of Fold3 concerning Thurston's ethnicity:
Is it also possible that Thurston's profession was not a yardman? And if he wasn't a yardman: Where could I find information what his real profession was? Would the City of Los Angeles, his last residence, have information on this in their archives?
Thanks so much!
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
2 people found this helpfulIt is doubtful that the city of Los Angeles would have his records. However, the National Personnel Records Center may have his personnel file. Since he was discharged/died prior to 1953 his records are archival and therefore open to the public. His records may have been affected by the fire, but it is still worth a shot. You can find out more about requesting archival personnel records in these two places:
Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Holdings
Request Military Service Records Online
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Ann, Thanks for your quick support! The links are very helpful.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Kelly Osborn
Aug 23, 2016 1:38 PM
4 people found this helpfulThanks so much, Keith! That will be very helpful to Marita.
For those who are a little reluctant to click the link above without knowing what it is, here's the image:
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Keith, I have no words.. Thank you so very much! I will put Thurston's picture next to his grave, whenever I put flowers there.
And now I can also send his picture to the Dutch website www.fieldsofhonor-database.com.
It is a database set up by a group of young Dutch (and Belgian) people who want to honor more than 20,000 American soldiers who lost their lives in northwestern Europe for our freedom. The founders of this database also wanted to give a face to these brave men, by putting their pictures on the website.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Today I would like to share some great news with you: After a search of one year and five months, I found a niece and nephew, and they sent me two beautiful pictures of Captain Thurston Eskelin. I can see in the pictures that Thurston was a handsome, bright, and wonderful man! Of course, I would like to share his pictures with you, but I do need the permission of his family.
I am very grateful to Thurston's family that they sent me Thurston's pictures.
Last but not least I would like to add that I also very much respect and honor the veterans of WW2 who survived the war in Europe, and who returned to their countries. Two years ago I met some American veterans in their nineties at the American Cemetery in Margraten. Their humble and courageous attitude struck me. True heroes. I could have embraced them all.
Thanks to all of you for your support during my search!
Marita
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
I would like to add the comment of a young Dutch visitor to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. The comment was posted on Tripadvisor in 2016 and I translated it into English:
"Impressive! Here [at the American Netherlands Cemetery] one becomes silent every single time. Your freedom, partly thanks to their lives. Also as a young person one should dwell on it every now and then. They deserve it."
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
I am with the Fields of Honor - Database / The Faces of Margraten. We would love to use the better pictures of him for the next tribute at the cemetery, in May 2020. Would there be any chance that you can make those available?
Thanks so much!
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Hi Sebastiaan,
First of all, thank you so much for all your good work concerning the Fields of Honor - Database and The Faces of Margraten. I very much admire and appreciate your dedication to our liberators.
I read that last year more than 20.000 people visited the special tribute Faces of Margraten at the American cemetery. I hope that next year, 2-6 May 2020, even more people will come to show their gratitude to their liberators.
I have just sent you Thurston's pictures, as I first needed the permission of his family.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
I would like to add three comments (on Tripadvisor) from Dutch visitors who visited the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten this year. I gave a free translation of the comments:
- "Neatly maintained cemetery. Very impressive, the knowledge that so many Americans gave their lives to liberate the Netherlands fills me with gratitude!" (from a Dutch woman)
- "One can say that my knowledge of history is good. But, when you come here [at the cemetery], a moment of reflection follows, the fallen men who rest here, the battle that they fought, the question why these boys fought for us so far away from home.
Questions go through my head, I saw a cross with a date on 28 April 1945..... a week later the liberation was there.
I have no words, and emotionally this gets to you completely when you know about history at least.
I sat here and was able to reflect. To my mind, I thanked all the fighters buried here.
Very impressive." (from a Dutch man)
- Ïmpressive to find an appropriate tribute for these heroes at such a calm place, It is unbelievable what they.have done for us so far away from their families. Forever grateful!" (from a Dutch man)
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
https://www.adoptiegraven-margraten.nl/en/full-documentary-now-available/
A documentary on the Dutch adoption program of the American Cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands.
Should the link not work, then you can also visit the above mentioned website (www.adoptiegraven-margraten.nl) where the link to the documentary was taken from. The website is in English and in Dutch.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
You may want to look at the above mentioned video at 11:06 until 11:09.
There you see the picture of a little Dutch girl, Maria, from 1946. Maybe Maria's picture is most symbolic for the gratitude of the Dutch adopters of the graves of the American soldiers at the American Cemetery in Margraten.
Maria was around ten years old when this picture was taken at the American cemetery. She had lost her father two years earlier. Her father was a Dutch railroad worker who was taken prisoner by the Germans to do forced labour in Germany. When Maria's father returned to his family in 1944, he was very sick because of the hard work and the harsh treatment in Germany. Sadly, he died in the same year.
In 1946, her mother took Maria to the American cemetery in Margraten, where Maria put flowers on the grave of one of the American soldiers, and prayed. She passed away last year.
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Below you will find a short video of the North Carolina National Guard. (The same video is also on their FB site.) The beginning of the video shows George Hamm, paying a last tribute to his friend Frederick Lambert at the American cemetery in Margraten.
On 12 September 2019, George Hamm, Peter Munger, Tony Jaber and John O'Hare, Old Hickory veterans, visited the American Netherlands Cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands.
On this 12 September it was exactly 75 years ago that American troops of the 30th Infantry Division (Old Hickory) liberated Mesch, the first village in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. After that, many more villages and towns in Limburg were liberated by American troops.
We will never forget the help and sacrifice of the American liberators. And we deeply respect and admire the fallen American (and other Allied) soldiers and veterans.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B2W73xWgLGZ/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
The above picture:
With deep respect for Thurston Eskelin, an army captain from California.
And with deep respect for the people of Margraten, and of Limburg, the Netherlands (Holland), who adopted the graves of the American men and women at the American Cemetery in Margraten.
As a WW2 veteran of Old Hickory told me a couple of years ago while visiting the American Cemetery in Margraten:
"The people of Margraten, and of Limburg, have been very good to us."
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Re: How can I obtain a picture of Captain Thurston Eskelin, whose grave I adopted at the American cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands. I did find his family, but they unfortunately have no pictures and hardly any information about Thurston.
Today, Memorial Day 2020. And this year, it is 75 years ago that the Allied forces liberated the Netherlands (Holland). It was supposed to be a month of big celebrations, with tokens of gratitude to our American liberators, amongst others.
With sadness, the Dutch adopters of the graves at Margraten (and of the names on the Wall of the Missing) had to accept the fact that they couldn't visit the American Cemetery in Margraten, due to the corona-crisis. Only American ambassador Pete Hoekstra, our king Willem-Alexander and a few other dignitaries were allowed to keep a short ceremony at Margraten yesterday.
Jan (97) and his wife Sophie (94) Rozestraten from the province of Limburg (Netherlands, Holland) were also very disappointed that they couldn't visit the cemetery to honor the American soldiers. It would have been their 75th Memorial Day at Margraten. During the war, in the house of Sophie's parents, American soldiers were stationed before they had to leave to fight in Germany. The Dutch family members cried when the Americans left, because they feared that they would never see them again. Sadly, this was the case. Sophie and her husband adopted three graves at Margraten. (Source: www.1limburg.nl, 23 May 2020 - 7:00 by Robert Janssen)
The event Faces of Margraten was postponed, too, due to the corona-crisis. It will take place next year in May.
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