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Nineteen Airmen, along with three C-130J Super Hercules aircraft assigned to Ramstein’s 37th Airlift Squadron, traveled to Holland Sept. 16 to 19 to participate in the re-enactment of the largest airborne assault in history to date.
More than 1,000 Dutch, German, British, Polish and American forces participated in the event near Eindhoven, Holland, as part of a commemoration of the 66th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, which took place Sept. 14 to 20, 1944.
“We took part in the airborne aspect of this commemoration,” said Capt. Brent Gaylord, 37th AS pilot and flight commander. “We flew in conjunction with a British C-130, a Dutch DC-3 commemorative aircraft and a German C-160, and combined we dropped 700 paratroopers from five different nations onto the Ginkelese Heide drop zone.”
Members of the 37th AS are proud to participate in this event every year and have a special tie to the historical operation. The squadron, then designated the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron, was part of the 1944 operation and flew C-47 Skytrains to support the Allied cause.
“It was neat to be part of something that big and remembering those people who sacrificed so much and took part in such an operation 66 years ago,” Captain Gaylord said. “When you are taking part in a commemorative thing like this, it’s hard not to put yourself in the original situation or imagine what it would have been like in dealing with other factors like the combat situation or the bad weather. You think about, that even with all the advances in technology, how complicated it is for us do to this today and all the challenges they must have been facing that long ago.”
The captain said the mission was a success and the feedback he received from his Dutch counterparts was very positive.
“We have reached about 40,000 spectators with this event,” said Maj. Jos Hekking, royal Dutch air force event coordinator. “Due to the jump, many people are interested in history and why we are commemorating what happened all those years ago. Operation Market Garden was heavily American led, so it is nice to see that still today we can all come together to commemorate this historical event. The people who were affected by the operation are very grateful that the Americans were jumping and donated aircraft towards the operations.”
American paratroopers included members from the following units: U.S. Army Europe, the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 5th Quartermaster Company.
