BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Rick Burtnett of Clarkston, a veteran of the 101st Airborne Division, enjoys books, movies, and miniseries depicting the World War II exploits of his old outfit.
That’s not enough, however.
“This past September, my family and I were fortunate to travel to the Netherlands to participate in the 75th anniversary of the liberation of southern Holland by Allied Forces,” Burtnett said. “As a retired parachute qualified Army officer and soldier from the 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles, I could not let this significant historical milestone pass without becoming involved. My mantra was, if I had the opportunity to jump in front of one WWII paratroop veteran and have an opportunity to shake his hand, then all the effort was worth it.”
The journey started last October when he read about the World War II Airborne Demonstration Team (WWII ADT), based in Frederick, Oklahoma.
The organization, which conducts jumps using military-style, round, static-line parachutes from WWII era aircraft wearing authentic uniforms, planned numerous events in Europe commemorating the 75th anniversary of the major battles fought by the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions, including D-Day in Normandy, Operation Market-Garden in Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.
“The significance of this year’s events is that, given the age of the veterans, most are over 95 years old, this would be one of the last large organized opportunities to honor those who actually jumped and fought in these historic battles,” he said.
WWII ADT and other organizations planned to make parachute jumps in Normandy and Holland.
Burtnett joined WII ADT, went through parachute refresher training, jumped in Oklahoma after a 35-year hiatus, and became qualified to join the team for their events. With a waiting list for the Normandy jump, he focused on Holland, collecting the correct uniform and equipment and relearning the history of Operation Market Garden.
Market Garden launched on Sept. 17, 1944. The largest air armada ever assembled in history, more than 1,545 aircraft and 478 gliders carrying almost 15,000 paratroopers and glider troops, departed England to drop the lead elements of three Allied airborne divisions into Holland.
The daring but ultimately unsuccessful plan was to seize a crossing of the Rhine River, link up with a British Armor Corps, and drive into Germany, ending the war before Christmas. The battle ended in a stalemate south of the Rhine River in November.
Allied forces suffered more than over 15,000 casualties. About 3,000 Dutch civilians were killed during the battle, and many suffered severe Nazi retribution afterwards.
WII ADT events commemorating Market Garden included jumps into drop zones used by the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, “Currahee” of “Band of Brothers” fame, near Son, Netherlands. On the actual 75th anniversary, Sept. 17, they planned a jump near Veghel, Netherlands, where the 501st PIR “Geronimo” landed, followed by an official ceremony in Eerde, Netherlands.
“On our first day in Son, Netherlands, we were confronted with how the Dutch remember,” Burtnett said. “When we drove into Son, we were amazed by the number of 101st Screaming Eagles flags that were flying from homes. They would be flown in most cases besides a Dutch flag and an Orange flag representing the Dutch national color.”
The residents throughout the region adopted lampposts and transformed them into the shape of a parachute. On the Son bridge, a Dutch woman attached a bouquet of flowers on the railing of the bridge in the exact location were a 101st soldier was killed crossing the bridge when the Germans blew it up to prevent its capture.
“Most times when we would meet Dutch, they would share their family’s story of the liberation. We visited a memorial a Dutch farmer had created in his field that had been used as the temporary burial ground for US soldiers,” he said.
The common theme was the very personal and intimate way the Dutch people express their remembrance of the sacrifices made 75 years ago and their communal commitment to never allowing those sacrifices to be forgotten.
“For the veterans and their families who participated in the events, the theme was of humble thanks in return that their comrades who died and those who fought and where forever changed by their experience in brutal combat in Holland were never forgotten,” he said.
After the jump into Son, all of the jumpers were led through farm fields to a farmhouse, which served as an assembly area for 506th PIR paratroopers.
“In the HBO series ‘Band of Brothers,’ the scene were the Easy Company paratrooper gave the boy a chocolate bar was this farm. The father of that boy built a memorial in his back yard with a paratrooper lamppost to honor those who fought and those killed in action. The grandson now owns the farm,” he shared.
A granddaughter of an Easy Company trooper who was at the farmhouse that night was given the honor of placing flowers at the memorial.
“We came face to face of another example of how the Dutch remember while touring battlefield sights,” Burtnett said. “We stopped at a memorial made in honor of Private Joe E. Mann from the 101st who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in securing the bridge in Best.”
While at the memorial, a Dutch couple came and placed flowers and lit a candle alongside the other flowers and candles had been left.
“My family and I introduced ourselves and we began discussing upcoming Liberation events,” he said. “The man told us he was from Son and since he was 9, every year he and his family came to this memorial. He had learned about the battle and PVT Mann in school.”
The wife then shared they had just come from an official Market Garden event in Eindhoven. She said, after the ceremony, she had the opportunity to talk to some of the veterans, one in particular who had been severely wounded fighting near Eindhoven. The soldier had been shot through both knees so since the battle, he had lived with limited mobility.
“As tears welled in her eyes she said ‘as a young man he had parachuted into Son and fought for Dutch freedom and never asked for anything, but carried the burden every day,’” Burtnett said “Her words struck us all very deeply and we all began tear when she ended by simply saying that ‘all I can do is never forget and always remember.’ All of these encounters and events and the emotions associated with them built up as we approached Sept. 17, the actual Market Garden anniversary date.”
Check out next week’s edition for Burtnett’s experience during the anniversary observances. Rick Burtnett, whose father was a career Army officer serving two combat tours in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1982. He was commissioned as an infantry officer, qualified in Airborne, Ranger, and Air Assault, and retired from the Army in 2003. He and his wife, Dawn, have three children.