Liaisons from the German Army visited Dec. 10 the gravesites of 17 World War II prisoners of war buried at Fort Knox's Main Post Cemetery.
Lt. Col. Siegfried Balk and Sgt. Maj. Carsten Dreblow, both with the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, laid a wreath in remembrance of the soldiers.
Balk said the treatment of enemy dead is quite different in America than in some other countries.
"Here, it is really good because they are well taken care of, and it is nice to see," Balk said. "My grandfather's brother [died] in Poland, but there is no [marked grave]. We know when and [during what battle] he fell, but there is no cemetery there, and no one cares for their graves."
According to Dreblow, Fort Knox is an appropriate final resting place for the POWs.
"We fought each other, but these are soldiers who fought [when tasked] by their country. Soldiers understand that," said Dreblow. "We are not enemies, anymore. We are allies now that stand beside each other.
"In death, they can be proud to lay on the same field."
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