Ginny Brown-Waite, a freshman Republican, said she decided to sponsor the bill after she was approached by a constituent who said he wanted to bring home his father, who was killed in World War II and buried in France. Some 74,000 American war casualties are buried in France and Belgium, including 30,000 from World War I. The host nations, while retaining sovereignty over the burial grounds, have granted the land in perpetuity to the United States as military cemeteries.
I appreciate the sentiment of reminding the French of what we gave for their country, but I'd rather the dead stay as a reminder to the French. My grandfather's brother was buried in France after his plane was shot down in World War II. I would have liked to have known him. Hopefully someday Iraq will be a thriving democracy that won't forget the dead Americans who made it possible.
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