Memorial Day - Netherlands

[Beer van Huet]

This year, we commemorated the 75th year of WW2 liberation by US soldiers.
Thanks to their determination and sacrifice, our country has been living in peace and prosperity ever since. We will never forget.
Nor will we forget other wars and countless conflicts, where US Forces fought for the European interests as well. On many of these occasions, we were standing side by side on the ground, in the air or at sea.
Without peace, there can be no prosperity.

Margraten is our largest military cemetry, where 8301 fallen US soldiers are buried and names of 1722 missing in action are recorded in tablets.

Short version of the 2020 memorial service, where our king Willem Alexander and Dutch and US dignitaries were present to lay a wreath.
The ceremony was held sober w/o the usual large crowd because of the COVID-19 virus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN9zQOuWf9Y

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4j4RX7Os5s
with RNLAF F-16 missing man formation at the end.

Website of Margraten cemetry

https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/netherlands-american-cemetery

[Jess from VA]

Thank you Beer.  

Arlington

[The emperor has no clothes]

It was very humbling seeing the sacrifices made by MANY during the first war.

[scooperhsd]

May the human race eventually evolve to the point that we don't need to fight each other.

This doesn't mean be unarmed in case an extraterrestrial force comes to wipe us out.

[3fan4life]

May the human race eventually evolve to the point that we don't need to fight each other.

This doesn't mean be unarmed in case an extraterrestrial force comes to wipe us out.

Much like the plot of "Independence Day" the only thing that could ever unite the military's of Earth would be to fight against an extraterrestrial enemy.

[old2soon]

         Thanks Beer. Happy so many World Wide understand the sacrifices made by the U S of A and Allied Armed Forces. And Thank You Beer for your Service. RIDE SAFE.

[Valkorado]

Great post, Beer.  Here's to the next 75 years -- and beyond! 

[JimC]

Beer, thank you for your post.

It is unfortunate but I feel that the populations of the foreign countries helped during the war remember and appreciate the effort, and the losses, better than the average citizen of the USA.

Jim

[Pappy!]

Thanks, Beer!
That means a lot to this US Citizen.
As was just said above, some of our own citizens are willing to give it away or gamble it away with each upcoming election.
So easily given, we would have to fight to get our country and freedoms back.
I just watched a movie on Amazon last night on WWII and the Netherlands unwanted occupation.

[Rams]

Thanks for the posting and the observance of those sacrifices.   
Too many of our own citizens don't or won't recognize those who sacrificed and apparently think freedom free...…..

Rams

[ridingron]

I don't know if they think Freedom is free or is too much trouble. Perfectly willing to let the government replace mommy and daddy's role in their life. Too many willing to assume that role for them.

Sorry for the thread drift.

[gordonv]

Thanks for the post Beer.

My father (van der Pas) came from Breda, (family still their, I think it's his niece in the air force as a pilot)  left Holland in 54' and tried to go to the mines in S Africa, but at 6'4" they wouldn't take him. Ended up in Quebec, as his French was better than his English. Learned English from a Scotsman there, then moved across the country to Vancouver, working in a dairy farm in Richmond. Where he meet my mom, and the rest was history.

He had mentioned about being 12' old when the war ended. Cigarettes where currency, which is why he smoked. He commented on the opening scene of the Longest Day, the fat German solder riding the pony, there was one in his town just like that.

(just remembering things. I still call it Holland, the name changed latter and I never got the memo)

[Beer van Huet]

Well, there is also a darkside to the Dutch behaviour during the nazi occupation. One that I am not proud of and perhaps a bit controversial with respect to this board.
After so many years, it is easy to pretend we were all heroes. The truth was very different. Most people are indifferent for what happens to others as long as they can save their own ass.
I just finished reading a book about Dutch collaboration called ' administrators of the holocaust'.
At the start of the war, the Dutch politicians, as well as the royal family fled to the UK and were powerless.
In the meantime, the secretary generals (highest ranking civil servants of the Dutch administration in occupied territory) decided to cooperate with the nazi's, thinking that by maintaining some sort of influence, they would be able to save lives.  By staying in power, they also prevented Dutch nazi party members from taking over key goverment positions.
Due to this fact, the nazi's could take over the very well organized and efficient public administration. Some 400 nazi's at the right places and key positions, controlled the entire administration over a population of about 9 milion people.
Consequently, the mayors, judges, police force, notaries, businessmen, railway system managers and captains of industry followed the guidelines of the Dutch SG's.
Even the supreme court decided to fire it's president because he was a Jew. Only the universities rejected the nazi's.
Business flourished in the first 2 years of the war as never before since Holland exported many goods to Germany, including military weaponry.
The Dutch administration was renowned for it's meticulously well documented civil registry at that time.  
The nazi's cleverly used and blackmailed the existing administraion to commit itself deeper and deeper in betraying their country's interests and chasing down Jews w/o any accusation, conviction or court order. Which was basically against our constitution.
To the point that the Dutch administration in fact fully cooperated in the administration, isolation and finally deportation of the Jews. They were praised many times by the nazi's for commiting razzia's and the 'always on time' trains. As a matter of fact, Holland held the record of highest percentage of deported Jews , more than France and Belgium.
These countries knew what it was like because they were occupied during the first WW while Holland remained neutral. Besides their civilian registration was outdated and incomplete.
Names and adresses of jews to be deported had to be provided by a jewish council, who ultimately decided who were to die or live (for the time being). They were told that they had to work in Germany, including elderly people and babies.
The politicians and queen abroad never instructed the administration to strike or boycot the nazi's.
After 1943, the resistance started to pick up, only after Dutch (non Jew) citizens were forced to work in Germany.
While several individual actions of the organized resistance were noteworthy, the administration as a whole utterly failed by collaborating with the nazi's.
When some jews returned from the concentration camps after the war, they found their possesions robbed, their money posessed by an unknown bank, their valuable paintings in musea, their stocks and bonds owned by other people and their houses occupied by Dutch people. All neatly and correctly handled legally. Now, they had to prove that their posessions were taken from them during the war. Many times to the same people who were collaborating and managed to rob the jews and were now reinstated in charge again.
Since rebuilding the country took prevalence over jewish lost possesions, they had to fight the reluctant government for many years in court to get back what belonged to them.
Not after the powerful US Jewish Lobby threatened to boycot the Dutch financial stock market, some formerly jewish stocks and bonds were handed back to their original owners.
It took the Dutch government until 2019, 74 years later, to apalogize for what happened with the jewish possesions after the war. The goverment never officialy apologized for it's actions during the war.

A sister of my grandmother worked with the nazi's in one of their main offices tasked to deport Jews.
As it turned out, she issued valuable information to the resistance. Since members of the resitance were kept secret to others, obviously, she discovered after the liberation that all her POC's and people who knew what she had been doing were killed by the nazi's. She was convicted for collaboration and died in an insane asylum many years later.

If you are insterested in a similar, true story, I can recommend viewing the movie  "Black Book"  a 2006 war drama thriller film co-written and directed by Paul Verhoeven.
 
It makes you wonder, doesn't it.

[hubcapsc]

"Black Book"

I just looked at its wiki page, looks like a very good movie... I guess
we mono-language folks would have to watch it with subtitles...

-Mike

[Beer van Huet]

I think it's in English. The Dutch version is called Zwartboek.
Some fragments mey be German to make it look more authentical.
Not suited for minors. It contains violence and nudity.