“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.” Neither should politics.

Only one agenda should govern our nation’s twenty-six overseas military cemeteries, where more than 200,000 Americans lay in rest: how best to honor and remember the men and women who, in the immortal words of President Abraham Lincoln, “gave the last full measure of devotion.” Controversy has no place at these hallowed grounds, especially at the Netherlands American Cemetery, near the town of Margraten, where the Dutch of Limburg province have for eight decades honored their American liberators through a grave adoption program unique to the world.

In November, major news outlets began reporting on the quiet removal of two panels from the Netherlands American Cemetery visitor center. One panel told the story of a 23-year-old African American soldier who drowned trying to save a comrade. The other summarized the challenges African Americans faced joining a segregated army and described their specific role at Margraten digging almost 18,000 graves at what was America’s largest military cemetery in Europe at the end of World War II. Much has been written about that panel – the “problem” panel – and the reasons for its removal. The truth is this: it contained errors of fact and omission that needed correcting. I know about these  details because I spent eight years researching my new book, Remember Us, about the soldiers and airmen buried there and the people of Limburg province who felt such admiration for their liberators.

Last week, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the federal agency responsible for managing our nation’s overseas cemeteries, installed a new panel that corrects the historical record while fully crediting those who deserved recognition all along. At this point, recounting the explanations of ABMC officials for the removal of the two panels, like dwelling on some of the Dutch protests in response, distracts from what ultimately matters. The revised text acknowledges the Army Graves Registration and Quartermaster units, white and Black Americans who along with Dutch volunteers worked side-by-side enduring long, gruesome months caring for the remains of our fallen. This action restores the visitor center to it proper purpose: honoring the fallen and recognizing the troops responsible for this seldom mentioned but fundamental task of an army at war.

The new panel, now installed at the Netherlands American Cemetery visitor center.

This outcome is a triumph of reason and accuracy. More importantly, it reflects a shared commitment to honor the 10,000 American men and four women who gave their lives so that people they never knew might live in freedom. Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Joe Popolo, just months into his tenure, embraced that commitment fully and played a critical role in resolving a matter that preceded his posting.

The AMBC’s decision to correct the panel text represents an important step in sustaining trust and goodwill between the Commission and the Dutch people. That trust matters. No nation has more consistently demonstrated gratitude to the United States for all that it did to liberate their country from Nazi occupation than the Netherlands. The people of Limburg housed American troops during combat. They cooked their food and washed their clothes. In March 1945, when the volume of deaths overwhelmed the Quartermaster troops, local citizens grabbed their shovels and helped dig graves. Two months later, 40,000 Dutchmen and women walked for hours in their Sunday best to attend the first post-war Memorial Day ceremony. By May 1946, every one of the 17,800 Americans buried at Margraten had a Dutch adopter, a local citizen who promised to preserve the memory of their liberator and send a photograph of the grave to the next of kin. Today, 81 years later, the Dutch adopters continue to honor that “forever promise.” Each person speaks of theirAmerican liberator as “my soldier.” That is part of what makes Margraten unique to all other military cemeteries.

One hundred years ago, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, first chairman of the ABMC, said, “Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.” At Margraten, that has proven true because memory has been treated as a sacred trust.