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The Secret Cemetery - Plot E
Topic Started: Jul 18 2015, 12:22 PM (299 Views)
George K
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Finally
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/oise-aisne-american-cemetery-plot-e
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Plots A-D of the Oise Aisne American Cemetary hold the remains of American soldiers who died fighting in a small portion of Northern France during World War I. However set across the street unmarked and completely surrounded by impassible shrubbery is Plot E, a semi-secret fifth plot that contains the nearly forgotten bodies of a number of American soldiers who were executed for crimes committed during and after World War II.

Over 6,000 soldiers are buried in the first four plots of the Oise Aisne Cemetery, but just 94 bodies are currently buried in the shunned fifth plot. While the small patch of land is technically on the grounds of the greater cemetery, it is not easily distinguished as it sits across the street, hidden behind the tall hedges that surround it. The only way into the secret cemetery is through the superintendent's office.

The soldiers eventually interred in Plot E were tried for rape, murder, and in one case, desertion (although the remains of the deserter, Eddie Slovik, the only American executed for desertion in WWII, were returned to the states in 1987). After being convicted in U.S. courts martial held in Europe, the men were dishonorably discharged and executed via hanging or firing squad. In many cases, the men who were buried in Plot E were initially buried close to the site of their execution. Those bodies were later exhumed and moved to Oise Aisne in 1949 when the plot of shame was established.

Plot E has been referred to as an anti-memorial. No US flag is permitted to fly over the plot and the graves themselves, small in-ground stones the size of index cards, have no names; they are only differentiated by numbers. Even underground they are set apart with each body buried in Plot E positioned with its back to the main cemetery. The site does not exist on maps of the cemetery, and is not mentioned on their website.

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A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Red Rice
HOLY CARP!!!
Quote:
 
Plot E has been referred to as an anti-memorial. No US flag is permitted to fly over the plot and the graves themselves, small in-ground stones the size of index cards, have no names; they are only differentiated by numbers. Even underground they are set apart with each body buried in Plot E positioned with its back to the main cemetery. The site does not exist on maps of the cemetery, and is not mentioned on their website.

Fascinating.
Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool.

I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss!

- Cecil Lewis
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TomK
HOLY CARP!!!
Yup, Fvck them.
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jon-nyc
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Fascinating indeed.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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brenda
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..............
Yet, there is one cross.
“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
~A.A. Milne
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jon-nyc
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Lots of details about the crimes of the residents here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oise-Aisne_American_Cemetery_Plot_E
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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jon-nyc
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Among them is the father of Emmit Till. Fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Till


Hey Piano*Dad - note the connecton to Ezra Pound. Might your father have been there during Till's execution?
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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George K
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Finally
jon-nyc
Jul 18 2015, 03:57 PM
Lots of details about the crimes of the residents here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oise-Aisne_American_Cemetery_Plot_E
I spent quite a bit talking to a fellow who was a volunteer at the hospital. His name was Bob, and he died about 8 years ago. He was at Normandy (actually a couple of days before D-Day, doing communications and radar work) in 1944.

I remember when he told me about a group of Germans that had been captured by one of the American units. The lieutenant (I think) told the sergeant to "take care of the prisoners." They were marched behind a building, and after the sound of several gunshots, the sergeant returned - alone.

After I expressed surprise/shock/amazement, Bob told me, "You don't understand. This was war, and that's what was done. We all did it."

The crimes committed by these men sound more heinous than what I describe - murder (not in the context of warfare), rape, etc., but it gives pause to think about the actions which were not punished.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
George K
Jul 18 2015, 04:07 PM
I spent quite a bit talking to a fellow who was a volunteer at the hospital. His name was Bob, and he died about 8 years ago. He was at Normandy (actually a couple of days before D-Day, doing communications and radar work) in 1944.

I remember when he told me about a group of Germans that had been captured by one of the American units. The lieutenant (I think) told the sergeant to "take care of the prisoners." They were marched behind a building, and after the sound of several gunshots, the sergeant returned - alone.

After I expressed surprise/shock/amazement, Bob told me, "You don't understand. This was war, and that's what was done. We all did it."
There's a scene in Band of Brothers where pretty much exactly that happens - it's discussed at http://www.ronaldspeirs.com/reputation/controversies/, along with the story of how he shot an American sergeant who was drunk.

The guy in question, Ronald Speirs, ended up as the Director of Spandau Prison, where Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer were held.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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Piano*Dad
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Bull-Carp
jon-nyc
Jul 18 2015, 04:01 PM
Among them is the father of Emmit Till. Fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Till


Hey Piano*Dad - note the connecton to Ezra Pound. Might your father have been there during Till's execution?


I suspect he was, though he never mentioned the incident specifically. Well, I don't remember him mentioning it. There is some chance he did but the fact didn't stick in my early teen brain. He didn't have much good to say about his time there. And like many GIs he didn't dwell on the past.
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
John D'Oh
Jul 18 2015, 04:45 PM
George K
Jul 18 2015, 04:07 PM
I spent quite a bit talking to a fellow who was a volunteer at the hospital. His name was Bob, and he died about 8 years ago. He was at Normandy (actually a couple of days before D-Day, doing communications and radar work) in 1944.

I remember when he told me about a group of Germans that had been captured by one of the American units. The lieutenant (I think) told the sergeant to "take care of the prisoners." They were marched behind a building, and after the sound of several gunshots, the sergeant returned - alone.

After I expressed surprise/shock/amazement, Bob told me, "You don't understand. This was war, and that's what was done. We all did it."
There's a scene in Band of Brothers where pretty much exactly that happens - it's discussed at http://www.ronaldspeirs.com/reputation/controversies/, along with the story of how he shot an American sergeant who was drunk.

The guy in question, Ronald Speirs, ended up as the Director of Spandau Prison, where Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer were held.
I know of one incident in Vietnam, where a patrol caught fire after leaving a village and they turned around to kill everything in it.
Including the dogs and the pigs.

I know one guy who still has his M16 at home - the one he wasn't supposed to carry as a Navy corpsman.

I know a guy, during the Vietnam War, who had a solid gold buddha stolen from him...while it was in the company safe.

The safest whorehouse in Saigon was run by the Viet Cong...and a lot of the GI's knew it. They went there because it was run cleaner than most, the drinks weren't watered and you didn't have to worry about getting rolled when you left.

And I know one guy, who got so torqued at being randomly potshot at, that he "misinterpreted" a fire order and unleashed a full 155mm battery stonk on hillside containing one lone VC.

Lastly, my pharmacist is an ex-greenie beanie. He is famous (or infamous) for napalming his own recon platoon, in order to claw the North Vietnamese off his back.

Lots of stories, from every war, that never see the light of day...

The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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