Spectators watch parachutists outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, to mark 80 years since the start of Operation Market Garden. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
EERDE, Netherlands — American airborne troops stormed out of their helicopters and took cover in some of the same fields where Allied troops took on the Nazis 80 years ago in a valiant attempt to clear the way to Germany.
Tuesday marked the anniversary of Operation Market Garden in 1944, when approximately 20,000 Allied airborne troops first landed in the Netherlands with parachutes and gliders. They included roughly 8,000 soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division and 7,000 assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.
The plan succeeded in freeing several Dutch cities, though it ultimately failed to secure a bridge at Arnhem that Allied planners had hoped would provide a path into Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley.
On Tuesday afternoon, hobby parachutists filled the sky just outside the village of Eerde, where some of the first World War II paratroopers set foot on Dutch soil.
Hobby parachutists participate in a commemorative jump to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
The 101st Airborne Division, which regularly marks Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, put a modern twist on its commemorations this year by conducting an air assault demonstration along with Dutch soldiers.
Squad leader Staff Sgt. Jacob Coyle, who took part in the demonstration, said doing so on the historic ground was an overwhelming experience.
“I can’t explain my emotions of how amazing it was to just see where the people who really gave us our lineage landed and helped liberate a beautiful country,” said Coyle, who was among about 60 soldiers who made the trip from Fort Campbell, Ky.
Modern air assaults with helicopters are often a favored tactical alternative to parachute drops, which exposed World War II soldiers to enemy fire as they descended.
The demonstration began when two Black Hawk helicopters landed in a grassy patch and unloaded U.S. and Dutch troops, who were tasked with attacking an enemy compound. About 20 Dutch soldiers played the enemy.
Staff Sgt. Jacob Coyle, left, and Pfc. Kristan Kensler after participating in an air assault demonstration outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Sept. 17, 2024, to mark 80 years since the start of Operation Market Garden. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division take part in an air assault demonstration outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, to mark 80 years since the start of Operation Market Garden. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division run through purple smoke during an air assault demonstration outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, to mark 80 years since the start of Operation Market Garden. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Dutch soldiers take part in an air assault demonstration outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, to mark 80 years since the start of Operation Market Garden. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. and Dutch troops file out of a Chinook aircraft during an air assault demonstration outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
A Chinook aircraft delivers a Dutch military vehicle by sling load during an air assault demonstration outside Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Sgt. 1st Class Christine Permenter, a vocalist with the 101st Airborne Division, performs at a ceremony to mark 80 years since the start of Operation Market Garden near Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Two Chinook helicopters then arrived with reinforcements, and a mock firefight ensued. After the enemy was defeated, two Dutch military vehicles were delivered using a helicopter sling load.
It was the first time the 101st Airborne Division conducted an air assault in the Netherlands and the first time the unit conducted one with Dutch troops.
“Coming here and seeing how much the people appreciate us and how grateful they are still to this day is humbling,” Pfc. Kristan Kensler said. “The fact that we came over here and we helped this nation and it’s still not forgotten, it means absolutely everything to us.”
Maintaining those deep historical links with the Netherlands was one of the main aims of the trip, said Maj. Gen. Brett Sylvia, the 101st Airborne Division’s commander.
Meanwhile, NATO partners are coming to see how being able to engage in large-scale combat “is much more of an imperative than it ever has been in the past,” Sylvia said on the sidelines of the event.
Dutch soldiers prepare to battle U.S. and Dutch troops arriving by helicopter during an air assault demonstration in Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
“And I think it is important for us to be able to demonstrate for the greater population in the Netherlands, in Europe, in NATO countries that we do have a capability that is relevant for this time period and the future,” he said.
The 101st says it can deliver one brigade over 550 miles in a single night and start combat operations.
“What that means is that if you are one of our adversaries, you can think that you are safe inside your capital and when you go to bed that night you think that you are nice and safe, you wake up the next morning and you will have 4,000 Screaming Eagle soldiers, hundreds of pieces of equipment and plenty of firepower that then shows up in your backyard,” Sylvia said to several thousand spectators Tuesday, using a nickname for the division.
Operation Market Garden, which spanned nine days, combined a large airborne assault with a ground offensive.
The airborne phase, known as Operation Market, dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines to seize and hold bridges. Simultaneously, Operation Garden saw British and Allied ground forces advance along a narrow corridor to support the airborne troops.
A soldier with the 101st Airborne Division hands out unit memorabilia to spectators at an air assault demonstration in Eerde, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The event was held to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
By the end of the operation, approximately 34,600 Allied troops had parachuted or arrived by gliders into the country.
Despite the 101st capturing many of their assigned objectives, the Allies failed to secure the final bridge at Arnhem and were forced to retreat. An estimated 17,000 Allied troops were killed, wounded or captured during the operation.
In the 1970s, the 101st was designated as an air assault division. In recent years, the unit’s World War II commemorations in Europe largely amounted to appearances and wreath laying.
But in June, the unit performed an air assault demonstration for the first time at the D-Day commemoration in Normandy.
Sylvia says they will become a regular occurrence.
Division historian 1st Lt. Devon Williford said it helps troops feel connected to their predecessors.
“Something that we say in the Army is that it could always get worse, so it’s good to understand the perspective of the men who came before you and sacrificed for you, and I think it’s important to recognize them,” Williford said.
