#21 The North Africa American Cemetery

Looking out the window of the taxi during the eight-mile drive from Tunis to the American Battle Monuments Commission [ABMC] North Africa American Cemetery, the landscape was rugged and brown, broken by a detour into the cute little town of Sidi Bou Said. As we approached the cemetery, we passed the ruins of the ancient city of Carthage, surely worth a visit on another trip - but not this time. When we walked through the gates of the cemetery, it was like walking into another world, a world with which I’m more familiar. As with all the other ABMC cemeteries I’ve visited, it was peaceful and beautiful while still respectful and somber.

A very knowledgeable local interpreter escorted us to the gravesite we came to visit and pointed out others of significance. There are 2,841 in-ground burials and 3,724 names on the Wall of the Missing. Buried in ground are four sets of brothers as well as four women. The names of another 19 women, who went down with a sinking ship, are listed on the Wall. These men and women represent some of the casualties from the WWII campaigns across North Africa and the Persian Gulf and from ships sunk in the Mediterranean. The soldier we specifically went to visit was Medal of Honor Recipient Private Nicholas Minue.

PVT Nicholas Minue was born to Ukrainian parents in Seddon, Poland on Christmas Day, 1900. Shortly after his birth, his parents returned to Ukraine and, in 1906, immigrated to the United States, settling in New Jersey where he grew up. Minue served briefly in the United States military during World War I but separated from the Army after the war was over. In 1927, though, he re-enlisted and reached the rank of sergeant. During World War II, however, Minue accepted a reduction in rank to private in order to serve in combat with the 1st Armored Division in North Africa. This reduction in rank is puzzling and despite my best efforts to discover why, the answer remains elusive.

On April 28, 1943, Minue’s company was directed to attack the enemy, entrenched in the high ground near Medjez-El-Bab, Tunisia. As the company approached the target area it was unexpectedly flanked by withering fire from the enemy position. Alone, Minue unhesitatingly charged the machinegun nest with fixed bayonet. He killed the enemy soldiers manning the position and neutralized the machinegun. He then continued forward to other enemy positions. Minue was fatally wounded in this one-man assault but his heroic actions and selfless sacrifice inspired his company to continue their advance. Within two weeks, enemy resistance in this area collapsed and 275,000 German and Italian soldiers were taken prisoner.

Our visit to Private Minue led us to discover Captain Foy Draper. Born in November 1913 in Georgetown, Texas, Draper was a graduate of the University of Southern California and a gold medalist in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He, along with teammates Jesse Owen, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff, set a world record of 39.8 seconds for the 400-meter relay. This victory, by an inter-racial team, was a slap in the face to Hitler and his philosophy of a master race. During WWII, Draper served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces and on January 4, 1943, he and his crew left on a mission in Tunisia from which they never returned. While his actual date of death is usually recorded as February 1, 1943, the cross marking his grave records January 4th.

The United States is a melting pot of different nationalities, cultures, races and genders. PVT Nicholas Minue, a Ukrainian immigrant with a fifth grade education, and Foy Draper, an Olympian and university graduate, as well as so many others buried here and elsewhere, are prime examples of how Americans from different backgrounds joined together for a common and noble cause. They were the greatest generation and worked together to promote the values and liberties we all hold dear today.