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EINDHOVEN, Netherlands ― Airmen from the 86th Airlift Wing and the 435th Contingency Response Group, along with four C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, celebrated Holland’s independence alongside joint and international partners during the 67th anniversary of the largest airborne assault of World War II in the Netherlands Sept. 15 to 20.
Operation Market Garden liberated several Dutch cities, though it did not capture strategic positions held by enemy forces.
“This is something that is organized every year to remember the effort of the allied nations involved with Operation Market Garden,” said Capt. Timothy Fleming, a British airborne soldier who participated in the memorial jump onto the same battlefield where Allied troops landed in 1944.
This year, more than 600 paratroopers from six countries descended from the sky in a ceremonial jump timed to coincide with the historic invasion 67 years ago.
The jumpers, from the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland and the U.S., were transported on three C-130Js from the 37th Airlift Squadron based at Ramstein.
“It was such an honor to be a part of this year’s commemoration,” said Capt. Marci Walton, 37th AS pilot and this year’s Market Garden mission commander for the 37th AS involvement. “To be a part of something so significant is a great experience.”
Hundreds of spectators watched as service members entered the drop zone.
“The event looked to be a success,” Walton said. “We could see the crowds and the flashes of their cameras from the cockpit.”
Walton said she hopes to fly in next year’s event in Eindhoven.
“Eindhoven is such a great place and a great community,” she said. “Flying in this year’s event felt amazing.”
Commemorations for Operation Market Garden are an annual operation for the 37th AS and the squadron has strong ties to the event. 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.
