Posting this blog on the fifth of each May has become a tradition for me.
Today is Liberation Day (also known as Freedom Day) for Holland. It was 5 May 1945 that Canadian forces along with other Allied forces were able to obtain the surrender of German forces in the small Dutch town of Wageningen. This led to the complete surrender and liberation of the country.
NETHERLANDS AMERICAN CEMETERY (MARGRATEN)
There is a cemetery near Maastricht. It is the final resting spot for 8,301 American soldiers and a memorial for the 1,722 men missing in action. They were casualties of Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) and other battles aimed at liberating Holland. Operation Market Garden was a failed Allied attempt to liberate Holland. There are other military cemeteries nearby for the British and Canadian men who did not survive the battle.
Individual Dutch families have adopted every man who perished in the battle. Each man’s grave is kept up and decorated by their adopted family. Even a portrait of their adopted soldier sits in their respective homes.
HONGERWINTER
Read More Twenty Years After the End of World War II: Dutch Memories