About six miles from Maastricht in the Netherlands lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944-5.  Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted.  It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" Allied soldier in a place of honor in their home. Annually on "Liberation Day" Memorial Services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." 

The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio", a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever since. 

In 2010 the soloist was a 13 year old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by Andre Rieu and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands).  This beautiful concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi.

Watch at this site, and go full screen. Beautiful and moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4l3Rgq-L1M

Quote from: PeterR on May 02, 2016, 03:34:05 PM

About six miles from Maastricht in the Netherlands lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944-5.  Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted.  It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" Allied soldier in a place of honor in their home. Annually on "Liberation Day" Memorial Services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." 

The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio", a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever since. 

In 2010 the soloist was a 13 year old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by Andre Rieu and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands).  This beautiful concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi.

Watch at this site, and go full screen. Beautiful and moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4l3Rgq-L1M

Thanks for the reminder PR. 

To see a movie made about it, "A Bridge Too Far", done about 1977.  A pretty good movie, with an all-star cast.  The "meat" of Operation Market Garden as played out is really interesting and sad.  Not much of a history buff here, so I don't know how accurate the movie actually is.

A great plan from the outset, quite logical and would have dealt a quick blow to the German occupation, putting the Allies practically in the German back yard.  The plan totally caught them napping.... except, Murphy was on the wrong side.  One thing after another, went horribly wrong, sub-par intelligence, wrong landing zones, German Panzers where they weren't expected, and on and on.  Coordination between the Allied forces was absolutely necessary ... you can guess, "what could possibly go wrong there...?"

Imagine several groups of paratroopers landing behind enemy lines, but each group is responsible for taking & securing a certain area, bridge, etc., then racing together to link up and form a larger force.  Timing is essential, and each group's success is critical, or... the goal is unreachable, and many lives are at risk.

I got the impression POLITICS and PRIDE of each country were the biggest hindrance to success.  By the time D-Day came around, it looked like things came together... better, at least.

A great flick, we've watched it several times on DVD, it's on-par with "The Longest Day", the D-Day invasion.

It is nice that AMerican soldiers are honored and remembered in this way.

Quote from: Billy's bayonet on May 02, 2016, 06:28:09 PM
It is nice that AMerican soldiers are honored and remembered in this way.

It's a Cinco de Mayo celebration that I can get behind.

The other night, while waiting for Game of Thrones to debut, I watched American Sniper, and noticed they played "Il Silenzio" during Kyle's funeral cortege. 

Quote from: PeterR on May 02, 2016, 08:21:14 PM


It's a Cinco de Mayo celebration that I can get behind.

The other night, while waiting for Game of Thrones to debut, I watched American Sniper, and noticed they played "Il Silenzio" during Kyle's funeral cortege.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Il+Silenzio&view=detail&mid=0E190F1C96C01B14BFF60E190F1C96C01B14BFF6&FORM=VIRE

Thank you, I had no idea the price we paid there.

The musical piece the tribute is ~ I have tears in my throat from having seen and listened.

God love them for remembering.

Quote from: Hoofer on May 02, 2016, 05:54:39 PM
To see a movie made about it, "A Bridge Too Far", done about 1977.  A pretty good movie, with an all-star cast.  The "meat" of Operation Market Garden as played out is really interesting and sad.  Not much of a history buff here, so I don't know how accurate the movie actually is.

A great plan from the outset, quite logical and would have dealt a quick blow to the German occupation, putting the Allies practically in the German back yard.  The plan totally caught them napping.... except, Murphy was on the wrong side.  One thing after another, went horribly wrong, sub-par intelligence, wrong landing zones, German Panzers where they weren't expected, and on and on.  Coordination between the Allied forces was absolutely necessary ... you can guess, "what could possibly go wrong there...?"

Imagine several groups of paratroopers landing behind enemy lines, but each group is responsible for taking & securing a certain area, bridge, etc., then racing together to link up and form a larger force.  Timing is essential, and each group's success is critical, or... the goal is unreachable, and many lives are at risk.

I got the impression POLITICS and PRIDE of each country were the biggest hindrance to success.  By the time D-Day came around, it looked like things came together... better, at least.

A great flick, we've watched it several times on DVD, it's on-par with "The Longest Day", the D-Day invasion.

Wrong objective. There's a saying: "Amateurs talk strategy and tactics. Professionals talk logistics". Instead of Market Garden, Montgomery should have used the resources to clear the Scheldt Estuary, the approaches to the port of Antwerp. That would have solved the allies supply problems. Bringing fuel from the invasion beaches and Cherbourg, burned half the fuel just getting to the forward units. If they wanted to free The Netherlands, they could have changed the direction of the American offensive thrust.