KMC members keep Kindergraves clean

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Devin Boyer
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany --  Kaiserslautern Military Community members worked together to clean the American Kindergraves, March 10, 2018, as part of a bi-weekly volunteer program designed to take care of the foundation year-round.

From 1952 to 1971, 451 American infants lost their lives at birth or shortly after birth at local hospitals. Families buried the remains of those children in a cemetery near U.S. Army Daenner Kaserne.

“Back in the ‘70s, nobody was looking after the graves,” said Chief Master Sgt. Philip Leonard, Ramstein Area Chief’s Group member. “[The graves] were all over the cemetery and there wasn’t a paid lease.”

In Germany, cemeteries run on rental agreements. If families cannot keep up the lease, the city will dig up the remains and the families will lose the plot.

The Ramstein Area Chief’s Group and the German-American Women’s Organization came to an agreement with the cemetery management and took over the responsibilities for the lease.

“The mayor said, ‘We will give you this plot and we will consolidate all of the Americans in one site,’” said Leonard.

Since the agreement, the children’s remains stay memorialized in the Kindergraves.

“As far as funding, it’s all donations,” said Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Letz, RACG member.

Before kicking off the clean-up, Moms Offering Moms Support Club of Kaiserlsautern, donated $400 to the Ramstein Area Chief’s Group and the German-American Women’s Organization in support of the Kindergraves.

The money will go to cleaning supplies, fuel for lawnmowers, and flowers for the graves.

“It’s a great opportunity to serve not only the Americans that have been a part of Germany over the years, but also a way to serve Germany as well,” said Letz.