Four Questions for Peter Stassen

"It is our duty to commemorate their sacrifice."

By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission

Peter Stassen and his family are remarkable people, who are carrying out a very honorable pursuit. This Flemish family has volunteered to be part of an 'Adopt A Grave' program at the Flanders Field American Cemetery, administered by the American Legion. Flanders Field is a true 'battlefield cemetery', and the area surrounding the site saw intense fighting during the autumn of 1918. Now, however, Flanders Field Cemetery is a place of peace, and contemplation, managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Most of the 368 military graves there are from this battle. Mr. Stassen is, himself, a retired military member, so he knows a little about service and sacrifice. We spoke to him about his experiences, and his family's efforts to commemorate our American WWI hero.

- You have adopted the grave site of an American soldier from WWI. We sincerely thank you for doing that. How did you start, and why?

Peter Stassen (left) and Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth, whose grave the Stassen family adopted in Belgium.During my time as Command Sergeant Major of the Military Command of the Province West Flanders I was responsible for the military protocol at the commemorations held in our Province. This included the Memorial Day Service at the Flanders Field American Cemetery organized by the American Overseas Memorial Day Association.

During the organisation meetings of the Memorial Day I met Joseph Schram, Commander of the American Legion "Flanders Fields" Post BE02. He told me about the “Adopt-a-Grave” program.

Because we already maintained some graves at our local civilian cemetery, we applied for the program. We made a list of 10 NCO’s of whom we liked to adopt their grave. They gave us the one of Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth.

- Is there a program that you work through to do this? Tell us a little about what the program is like.

The “Adopt-a-Grave” program is administered by the American Legion “Flanders Field” Post BE02  (http://www.sitemn.gr/adoptagraveflandersfield/HOMECONTACT.php).

The terms of Adoption are very simple: the adopter is expected to visit the grave and place flowers at the grave regularly and more specifically on special occasions like Memorial Day. Every year we visit his grave several times (but definitely on his birth day, June 6th and the day he died, November 1st) and we are present at the Memorial Day Service and Veterans Day Service.

- You adopted the grave of the American service member, Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth. Who was he? What have you learned about him and about his experiences, his unit, his background, his personal life?

After we adopted his grave we tried to find out as much information as we could. Unfortunately his military service record was destroyed during the fire that occurred at the United States National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in Overland, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, on July 12, 1973. We only got a copy of his burial file.

With the help of the Fairfield Heritage Association, Lancaster we were able to contact Terry Burnworth, a grand nephew of Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth. In June 2015 we visited the family in Bremen, OH and spoke with several descendants.

The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette wrote a story of our visit in their edition of Friday June 19th 2015:
(http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/story/news/local/2015/06/19/belgian-couple-adopts-wwi-soldier-grave/28955787/).

Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth grave in Belgium, and grave marker in hometown Ohio.We found most of our information about Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth in the book “Heaven, Hell or Hoboken” by Ray N. Johnson. He was a Private of the Machine Gun Company of the 145th Infantry Regiment. Therefore we assume that Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth who was a member of the H Company of the 145th Infantry endured the same.

In August 2015 we visited the battlefields in France where he fought with his unit. All the information we collected can be found on the tribute website (http://amarilisvos.wixsite.com/sgt-w-burnworth) we created.

- World War I happened a long time ago, and was an awful war. Why is it important to remember such fallen people, and to tend to their memory?

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”. We do believe this quote is true. We will never know the reason why Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth voluntary engaged. His actions on the other hand, speak for themselves. He became a Corporal during his basic training, he was promoted to Sergeant a week before the Lys offensive and he got a Silver Star citation for his courage under fire. We thank him and all the other soldiers who freed our country.

Sgt Willis Lewis Burnworth gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I doubt he even knew Belgium when he entered the service. Let alone the people of this little country. Belgium and his people our very thankful for liberating our country. We can live in freedom but the price was very high. It is our duty to commemorate their sacrifice. There are not a lot of Belgians who know that American soldiers fought in Belgium during the Great War. Everybody knows the effort the British Empire did. We still honor them every day at the Menin Gate in Ypres with the Last Post.

It is our opinion that we could do more by adopting a grave of one of the brave. And we were not alone. The 368 graves at the Flanders Field American Cemetery were all adopted in a short time. It is a small effort we our willing to do, to honor his service.