The Temporary American Cemetery at Son

The Temporary American Cemetery at Son

On the northern edge of Son, near a farm called the Waterhoef, a dirt track runs out into open fields. For a few years after 1944 those fields held one of the first American cemeteries in the Netherlands. The track was its entrance. Today the land is farmed again. The 101st Airborne Division landed around Son on 17 September 1944, the opening day of Operation Market Garden. The fighting along the corridor was hard, and the dead mounted quickly. Within days the Americans had established a burial ground in the fields by the Waterhoef farm. The graves were dug by…
Read More
Robert Cole: The Medal of Honor He Never Knew He Had Won

Robert Cole: The Medal of Honor He Never Knew He Had Won

A parachute-shaped stone stands at the edge of a field in Best, in the Netherlands. The marker carries the Medal of Honor citation of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, and it sits next to the ground where he was killed. The memorial was unveiled on 18 September 2009, the 65th anniversary of his death, with his son and veterans of the 101st Airborne Division present. Cole commanded the 3rd Battalion of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. On 18 September 1944, the second day of Operation Market Garden, his battalion was in contact with German positions near Best. Cole had requested air…
Read More