Memorial

More information

Sgt Joseph J. Kordas enlisted at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland on 24 June 1941.

He was killed during an artillery barrage.

He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Molenhoek, The Netherlands on 5 October 1944.

The following was written by Mark Guzan, a nephew of Joe Kordas and some photos paint a picture of what Mr. Guzan is telling:

As did I, Sgt Kordas grew up in Ambridge, PA; it’s about 20 miles downriver from Pittsburgh and back then it was a steel-industry town.

Sgt Kordas was my mother’s oldest brother, our “Uncle Joe”. As youngsters we’d heard brief stories about him, saw his name on the hometown war memorial; but for years we weren’t aware of much more.

In October 2019, I received a letter from Teresa, a volunteer with the Fields of Honor Foundation, asking if I was related to a Sgt Joe Kordas. Thanks to that letter, I began to learn about both the gratitude of the grave adopters at Margraten and more of my Uncle Joe. I gathered info from my brother John, my Aunt JoAnn (her late husband was Joe’s youngest brother), and the Ambridge library.

To any who don’t know, since 1945, each of the graves and memorial names at Margraten have been adopted by local Dutch citizens, with the purpose of perpetually maintaining each soldier’s resting place. These adoptions are passed down through family generations, and there is a waiting list for people who are eager to participate. At the cemetery on any given day people can almost always be seen placing flowers or flags next to graves or along the Wall of the Missing, sometimes with a photo of their adopted soldier.

A few years later, in a fortunate turn of events, a group of us who often travel together decided to go on an AMA cruise on the Rhine-Moselle Rivers in May 2026. The river cruise started in Amsterdam. It didn’t take much to realize that Maastricht and Margraten are only a 2-hour train ride away.

The idea to visit my Uncle Joe’s gravesite was plausible. Further thought evolved into the notion of meeting his Adoptive Family.

Through the diligence of two remarkable people, once again Teresa and the grave adoption coordinator in the Netherlands, Nicole Sproncken, I was able to make contact with Diana Schreurs, whose family so generously tends to Sgt Kordas’ grave.
Diana and I exchanged numerous emails with photos, our backgrounds, our travel plans, and eventually we set a date to meet and visit the cemetery.

I began to prepare for the visit.

My Aunt JoAnn asked that I lay at Uncle Joe's grave "a penny for Frank"; I found a 1944 penny and shined it like new to be placed at the headstone marker.

At the suggestion of Ambridge mayor Tina Iorfido-Schmidt, the mayor's office and the Ambridge Town Council issued a "Proclamation of Thanks" to the Schreurs family, expressing appreciation for always "tending to one of our own".

A day after arriving in Amsterdam, Nancy and I traveled to Maastricht. Although I had prepared, I was unready for the amount of kindness and generosity from everyone that day; it was and still is overwhelming.

Diana and her husband Jasper met us at the station, and selflessly gave up their entire day to escort us. It was an honor to present the Proclamation from Ambridge to them. Nicole and her daughter met us at the cemetery, introducing us to Joe Alotto, the cemetery superintendent. Joe conducted a touching ceremony for us, where he first presented detailed information about Sgt Kordas and then rubbed sand from Omaha beach into the engraved letters of Uncle Joe’s headstone.

Joe described Nancy and me, since we were family members, as VIPs; I felt it was the other way around – all of these wonderful people, the Adopters, the volunteers, the workers, are beyond question Very Important People – they do so much, so honorably, with great benevolence.

I’m forever grateful to be able to experience it, and to now know these exceptional folks. “Dank je wel!”