Operation Market Garden 80th Anniversary And The Road To Liberty
Thousands fill the streets of the Netherlands to commemorate and honor the allied troops who liberated them from Nazi occupation 80 years ago.
While Operation Market Garden is often remembered as falling short of the objectives set by the allied command during World War II, for the Dutch it was the start of 80 years of freedom after more than four years under brutal Nazi occupation.
This year all over the Netherlands there were commemorations and celebrations of the Allied invasion that opened the doorway to Nazi Germany and the path to freedom.
British, Canadian, and Polish troops punched through the German lines, soon to be followed by the Americans. It was only the beginning, there would be heavy fighting for many more months.
This September, some of those same soldiers returned to the battlefields they fought on 80 years ago. Children and grand children of the liberated Dutch came out to shake hands and remember those who fought and died for their freedom.
In 2024 World War II tanks and vehicles once again filled the streets of Dutch towns like Maastricht, and parachutists jumped from C-47s in commemorative celebration.
The Second World War is a defining moment for the West and the modern world. World War II veterans or a living testament to that shared moment in our collective history. Soon they will all be gone, the responsibility is on us to remember, preserve, and uphold the values and legacy they fought and gave their lives to protect.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
Laurence Binyon
