Cat Brules Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 About six miles from Maastricht, in the Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden", an ill-fated battle to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944. 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 graves, decorate them, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. The custom is to keep a portrait of "their" soldier in a place of honor in their home. Annually, on "Liberation Day", memorial services are held for "the men who died to free 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. The beautiful piece is based on the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi. This year the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, accompanied by André Rieu and the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands. Best at full screen, Click the link below. http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 WOW What a gift she has, and has work'd hard to be where she is. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grass Range #51406 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Beautiful. Thanks Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Very beautiful. Deeply gratifying and moving that they continue this wonderful memorial still, down the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Love the Dutch. A wonderful people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Beee U Teee FULL. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagebrush Burns, SASS # 14226 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Good Stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleburne, SASS # 39597 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 LIKE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Very good for age thirteen. Her embouchre is slightly off center and the placement of the fingers on the valves isn't overly correct,but, she gets it done well. Nice tone,too. For thirteen, very commendable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Duncan Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Thank you Holland for honoring those that gave their lives liberating your country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hoss Carpenter, SASS Life 7843 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 When I was stationed in Germany (78 to 82) I read C. Ryan's book, A Bridge too Far. It made such an impression on me, in early 82 my Wife and I drove up to Holland and visited Arnheim and the site of all the battles and the museum and grave yards. It made a last ing impression on me. "Operation Market Garden" was a total failure and was the Allies biggest disaster in WW2, God Bless all those valiant soldiers. Great Movie with Sean Conerlley (sp) too. Hoss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 The ultimate shame is that we don't honor our fallen the way these folks do! Absolutely wonderful!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocWard Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 If you don't mind, I'm going to post this to my facebook page. As soon as my screen stops being quite so blurry. Edit: I was looking for a bit more information on this, and evidently while Belgium and Germany also have volunteers who care for the graves of American, British and Canadian war cemeteries, evidently Holland is the only country that has a waiting list of people to "adopt" a soldier numbering in the hundreds even today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Brules Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 If you don't mind, I'm going to post this to my facebook page. As soon as my screen stops being quite so blurry. Edit: I was looking for a bit more information on this, and evidently while Belgium and Germany also have volunteers who care for the graves of American, British and Canadian war cemeteries, evidently Holland is the only country that has a waiting list of people to "adopt" a soldier numbering in the hundreds even today. If you don't mind, I'm going to post this to my facebook page. As soon as my screen stops being quite so blurry. Edit: I was looking for a bit more information on this, and evidently while Belgium and Germany also have volunteers who care for the graves of American, British and Canadian war cemeteries, evidently Holland is the only country that has a waiting list of people to "adopt" a soldier numbering in the hundreds even today. If you don't mind, I'm going to post this to my facebook page. As soon as my screen stops being quite so blurry. Edit: I was looking for a bit more information on this, and evidently while Belgium and Germany also have volunteers who care for the graves of American, British and Canadian war cemeteries, evidently Holland is the only country that has a waiting list of people to "adopt" a soldier numbering in the hundreds even today. If you don't mind, I'm going to post this to my facebook page. As soon as my screen stops being quite so blurry. Edit: I was looking for a bit more information on this, and evidently while Belgium and Germany also have volunteers who care for the graves of American, British and Canadian war cemeteries, evidently Holland is the only country that has a waiting list of people to "adopt" a soldier numbering in the hundreds even today. Yes, by all means, repost this elsewhere. When I was working there a few years back, my driver became my de facto tour guide. One Sunday he took me to a small Dutch village, which was entirely intertwined with very small canals. Outside the canals was a medieval stone church dating from the 1500's. The wall on one side of the door was covered with fresh flowers. My guide explained that behind the flowers, the wall is pockmarked from machine gun bullet impacts. After their country was occupied by the Germans, the villagers had hidden their Jewish neighbors from the Nazis for at least a couple years. The SS found out, sent the Jews to death camp and took from the village, the male boys over a certain age and the adult men, stood them at the church wall and turned the machine guns on them. The Dutch, to this day, despise the Germans. As an American visiting or working there, you are a respected guest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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