Ohio National Guard News

Celebrating Veterans Day

Belgian citizens remember Ohio doughboys

Veteran of 37th Division, interred in European cemetery,
recently honored in his Ohio hometown along with other natives who died in WWI

Story and photos by Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Mann, Ohio Army National Guard Historian

Retired Belgian army Sgt. Maj. Peter Stassen (center) stands with the command team and other Soldiers from the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team at Flanders Field American Cemetery Aug. 5, 2018, in Waregem, Belgium. Stassen and his wife adopted the grave of Sgt. Willis Burnworth, who served in the 145th Infantry, 37th Division, Ohio National Guard, and was killed on Oct. 31, 1918, near Olsene, Belgium during World War I.

Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Schuster, command sergeant major of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Ohio Army National Guard, places a shoulder sleeve insignia of the 37th IBCT on a marker for Sgt. Willis Burnworth Nov. 3, 2018, at Grandview Cemetery near Bremen, Ohio.

Retired Belgian army Sgt. Maj. Peter Stassen (left) meets Col. Cory Lusk, commander of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Ohio Army National Guard, at Flanders Field American Cemetery Aug. 5, 2018, in Waregem, Belgium.

Col. Cory Lusk, commander of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Ohio Army National Guard, places a wreath on a white cross Nov. 3, 2018, at Grandview Cemetery near Bremen, Ohio. Ohio National Guard Soldiers participated in the ceremony in Bremen to remember the eight Soldiers from that village killed during World War I.

Retired Belgian army Sgt. Maj. Peter Stassen and his wife Colette stand behind the grave of Sgt. Willis L. Burnworth at Flanders Field American Cemetery Aug. 5, 2018, in Waregem, Belgium.

Command Sgt. Maj. Mickey Burress, command sergeant major of the 1st Battalion, 145th Armored Regiment, Ohio Army National Guard, places a wreath on a white cross Nov. 3, 2018, at Grandview Cemetery near Bremen, Ohio.

Retired Belgian Army Sgt. Maj. Peter Stassen (right) and a member of the Burnworth family place a wreath on a white cross in memory of Sgt. Willis Burnworth Nov. 3, 2018, at Grandview Cemetery near Bremen, Ohio.

BREMEN, Ohio (11/07/18) — Located a little over 4,000 miles east of this Fairfield County village is the Flanders Field American Cemetery in Waregem, Belgium. At this peaceful site rest 368 American dead, including 61 Ohioans, who gave their lives in liberating Belgium during World War I.

In the first row of plot C at Flanders Field American Cemetery lies the remains of Sgt. Willis L. Burnworth of the 145th Infantry, 37th Division, Ohio National Guard. Back in the Grandview Cemetery in Bremen is a stone cross wrapped in red flowers also inscribed with the name of a fallen Soldier: Sgt. Willis L. Burnworth.

One hundred years after his death, nearly 50 people gathered at the Bremen Bethel Church to remember Burnworth and seven other Bremen natives who died during World War I. In the church was Peter Stassen and his wife Collette, two Belgian citizens who adopted the grave of Burnworth in 2014 and served as the driving force behind the ceremony in his hometown.

“Earlier this year I received a letter from Peter asking what Bremen was going to do to remember Sgt. Burnworth this year?” Bremen Mayor Mike Henwood told the audience. “I said I don’t know, but we need to do something.”

Stassen, a retired Belgian army sergeant major, said he and his wife, a retired Belgian navy master chief petty officer, visit the grave about once a month and place flowers at the grave regularly, and always on his birthday and the anniversary of his death.

Burnworth was killed on Oct. 31, 1918, near the town of Olsene, Belgium. After successfully leading his platoon in capturing a German machine gun nest, a large caliber shell exploded nearby. The concussion killed Burnworth without placing a single mark on his body, Stassen told those gathered.

In 1919, his body was disinterred from its battlefield grave and the U.S. government gave Burnworth’s parents the option to have his body returned to Ohio or move it to the American Cemetery in Flanders. “His parents wanted his remains to stay in Belgium, as they felt his body would be taken care of,” Stassen said.

When Soldiers from the Ohio Army National Guard’s 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team visited Belgium this summer to commemorate the centennial of World War I, they were greeted by Stassen and a number of other locals who adopted 37th Division Soldiers and look after their graves. More recently, leaders of the 37th IBCT and the 1st Battalion, 145th Armored Regiment greeted Stassen here in Ohio and placed wreaths on white crosses at Grandview Cemetery to remember the eight Soldiers.

“These Soldiers gave their all for our tomorrow.” Stassen said. “We can live in freedom, but the price was very high. All they would ask is that we should never forget what they gave.”