Parachutists commemorate 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands

Associated Press

GINKEL HEATH, Netherlands (AP) — Hundreds of paratroopers have dropped out of near-cloudless skies over a heath in the central Netherlands to commemorate the 80th anniversary Operation Market Garden. It was of one of World War II’s most daring but ultimately unsuccessful missions. Parachutists from the Dutch Air Mobile Brigade and 12 other NATO nations took part in a series of jumps over Ginkel Heath on Saturday. The recreation of the September 1944 drop was watched by a small group of World War II veterans and about 60,000 spectators. Local mayor Rene Verhulst called the heath near Arnhem a place “where 80 years ago courage, sacrifice and hope came together in the shape of the airborne landings during Operation Market Garden.”