LEFT: Erby Roper’s grave in the Henri-Chapell American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium. Note the pennies on the cross. Designated Visitor Bryan Knapen of Belgian placed the three pennies for Roger Roper, Erby’s brother; Janet Bott Hueston, my cousin and daughter of my Aunt Rolene and her second husband; and me. TOP RIGHT: Erby H. Roper in 1943, prior to his enlistment. BOTTOM RIGHT: Erby’s brother, Roger Roper, holding the encased, folded American Flag presented to their parents by the U.S. Army following their son’s passing.
By Milton F. Whitmore. Photos courtesy of the author.
December 21, 1944, dawned cold and snowy in the Rollesbroich area in Western Germany near the Dutch and Belgian borders. Private First Class Erby H. Roper was a member of the 82nd Division, 310th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Company M, which was a Light Vehicle Maintenance or motor pool unit in the battalion. The 82nd Division was holding the northern portion of what was to become known as The Battle of the Bulge. While driving a jeep near the village of Rollesbroich, about 60 miles north of St. Vith on the twenty-first, PFC Roper’s jeep hit a German-placed land mine, which exploded. Erby Roper was killed in action that December day while serving his country.
You now know more about Erby H. Roper than I did last October. You know his name and some of the circumstances of his death. None of this was known to me then.
It would help if you knew my connection to the man. His wife, Rolene Okke Roper, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was widowed on that day in December 1944. In September 1945, Rolene married my mother’s brother. Over the years, I learned that Aunt Rolene had been married during the war and that her first husband was killed in action during The Battle of the Bulge. I did not know his name.
Last fall, my wife and I became fans of André Rieu, who leads his excellent Johann Strauss Orchestra in concerts around the world. The orchestra presents classical and pop music with excellent musicianship and a flare unseen in the classical music world. Often during a concert, André will mention that he was born, raised, and still lives in the Dutch city of Maastricht, which is in the southwest corner of the Netherlands, aka Holland. Being the curious sort that I am, I wondered where Maastricht was in Holland. So, of course, I did a search to find its location. I browsed, looking at the map provided, and noticed that there was an American cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, a few miles east of Maastricht.
While pondering all of this, I thought back to my Aunt Rolene and her first husband and wondered whether he was buried at Margraten. Of course, I didn’t know his name, so I called my cousin Janet, who is Aunt Rolene’s (and Uncle Gene’s) daughter. She remembered that his name was Erby Roper but wasn’t sure of the spelling. I found the website of the Netherlands American Cemetery and, through the site, did a search of their data for Erby Roper. The search came up empty.
Again, I looked over the map of southern Netherlands and northern Belgium and found the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial in the latter country. I searched the cemetery’s website data and found an “Erby H. Roper” from Michigan who was interred there. With ease, I searched the site for the cemetery’s contact information and emailed them about Erby. The Dutch citizens are quite interested in visiting and looking after the graves of American service members killed in action (KIA) in Europe and buried in Margraten. The cemetery has a waiting list of over 300 citizens who want to care for a grave site. I wondered if any Belgian citizen was registered to visit Erby’s grave in Henri-Chapelle. In short order a representative of HC, Aimee Fogg, informed me that she had found a candidate for visitation. Bryan Knapen, a Belgian citizen, texted me to say he would be visiting Erby’s grave.
Through the cemetery and other sources, including through Facebook, I was given a service photo of Erby, his obituary in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press and other information. Of course I passed this along to Bryan. On January 3, he sent me a photo he took that morning of Erby’s cross as it looked in a bit of snow that had fallen during the night. Bryan and I continued to correspond.
I learned that PFC Roper was born and raised in Keith, Kentucky, which is in Harlan County, in the state’s southeast corner, in the heart of Appalachian coal country. That’s all I knew through the middle of January. Bryan and I wondered about family members. Were any of them still alive? Erby had eleven siblings, three of whom served in Europe during WWII, with the three brothers surviving the conflict. Grasping at straws, I began to search for and browse online anything dealing with Harlan County, Kentucky. The first site I checked offered an advertisement for Roper’s Farm Market Store. I saw the business phone number and dialed. The young lady who answered was an owner but not a “Roper,” as they had sold the store two years prior. She agreed to contact a Roper she knew and pass along who I was, what I was looking for, and my contact information.
A week later, Erby’s younger brother Roger texted me. Roger was my age, born in June 1944, six months before Erby’s death. I explained in detail to Roger how I am connected to Erby through my Aunt Rolene. Roger still has the encased, folded American flag given to his parents after their son’s passing. He looks at it every day. Erby’s brother and family remember him well and over the years would talk about him at reunions.
This week, Bryan will be placing three pennies on the cross over Erby’s grave. A penny symbolizes that the grave was visited. This is a military tradition dating to ancient Rome, though they used stones not coins. A nickel means the visitor served in boot camp with the deceased. A dime means they served in the same unit; a quarter means that the visitor was present when the service person was KIA. This little-known memorial gesture has been used with Vietnam, Afghanistan and Gulf War veterans.
We must remember those who served their country and gave their lives. We become their voice, and if we don’t remember them, they die twice.
Learn more about the Henri-Chapelle Cemetery and Memorial, and other cemeteries and memorials overseen by the American Battle Monuments Commission, at: https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/about-henri-chapelle-american-cemetery/
Milton Whitmore is retired from teaching at Onekama Consolidated Schools and recently moved from Arcadia to Traverse City, where he and his wife are adapting to city life.
