Remembrance & Gratitude: "Keep the Peace and Never Forget Us."

One of Bear Creek's employees presented us with a folder containing memorabilia from a local U.S. veteran of the Hürtgen Forest, Matthew Wotherspoon, Co. I, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

The contents of the folder came home with Mr. Wotherspoon, who attended the June 1976 "Treffen" or reunion of the Society of the First Division U.S.A and its German counterpart for the members of the society of the Greyhound Division (116. Pz Div), in Vossenack-Hürtgenwald, Germany. The West German postal service issued a First Day Cover Postal Stamp with the insignia of the U.S. 1st ID ("Big Red One") and the 116. Pz Div ("Windhund") and an inscription, "For the Freedom in Germany and America."

When Northern Light Operations selected Bear Creek for a Hürtgenwald scenario, we had no idea that such a poignant memory would be found and shared. Please take a moment to read the inscription on the card shown below, "...We realize that you as our former opponents, having made the long journey here, have taken another step toward the union of nations....as a reminder to the leaders of this world:
Keep the peace and never forget us.."
Picture
Matthew Wotherspoon, Co. I. 16th Inf Reg., 1st Infantry Division at the 116. Memorial in June 1976
Below is a photo gallery of the folder's contents and copies in pdf format that you may download. When you hover your cursor over the photo, a caption describing it will appear. When you click on the photo, it opens the gallery.

NLO will preserve the folder and allow it to speak for itself.
wotherspoon_pdf.pdf
File Size: 1544 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
memorial.pdf
File Size: 616 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
116_signatures.pdf
File Size: 540 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
folder_left_side_pdf.pdf
File Size: 536 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
sascha_pdf.pdf
File Size: 747 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Northern Light Operations, LLC also thanks the staff at Bear Creek Camp and all the re-enactors who participated in the first re-enactment event, November 8-10, 2019:
U.S. and Canadian

1st ID
1st ID/BROLHO                          
2nd AD/82d Recon     
6th AD                        
28th ID                       
29th ID                                            
44th ID                                     
Hq 2-506 PIR
"A" Coy 1st Cdn Para  Battalion 
U.S. Cooks
German

12. SS Pz
2. Gebirgsjäger
3. Germanisch
Grossdeutschland Division/7. Ko.
GR. 272
​GR. 916
Hoch u. Deutschmeister/IR 134
KG Franzky
Cafe' Trois
German Kantine