We Still Stand Together - From 1776 to 2026, U.S.-Dutch Friendship Honored at Market Garden Commemoration

This speech was written by Maj. Nicholas M. Chopp, Public Affairs Officer for 21st Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) and delivered by Lt. Col. Travis A. Nedderson, the G5 Plans Chief for 21st TSC at the commemoration of the liberation of the city of Grave during Market Garden at the LT John S Thompson Bridge at Grave, Netherlands on Sept. 17, 2026.

Distinguished guests, veterans and families, representatives of the Netherlands, fellow service members, and above all, the people of Groesbeek: Thank you for welcoming us here today. We gather on ground that carries the memory of courage, sacrifice, liberation, and enduring friendship. We gather to honor those who came here in September 1944 - young Americans and Allied soldiers who faced an uncertain mission far from home. And we gather to recognize the Dutch people, who have ensured that their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten. This year, as the United States marks 250 years of independence, our shared history can be expressed in three simple lines:

1776: You stood with us. 1944: We stood with you. 2026: We still stand together.

In 1776, the United States was a new and vulnerable nation. At Fort Orange on St. Eustatius, the guns of a Dutch island returned the salute of the American brig Andrew Doria. Dutch merchants and trade networks helped sustain the American cause during our Revolutionary War.

That First Salute was a powerful symbol: a signal that, even at the beginning of our national story, the American people had friends among the Dutch people. It represented the beginning of a relationship grounded in mutual respect, common interests, and a belief that free people should determine their own future.

1776: You stood with us.

One hundred sixty-eight years later, in 1944, that friendship was tested in the harshest possible way. Operation Market Garden was an ambitious Allied effort to secure vital crossings in the Netherlands and open a route toward Germany. The 82nd Airborne Division was assigned critical objectives in this area: the high ground around Groesbeek and the bridges at Grave and Nijmegen. Across this region, American, British, Polish, Canadian, and other Allied forces fought alongside Dutch patriots and civilians who had already endured years of occupation.

The operation did not achieve every objective. Arnhem was not secured, and the liberation of the Netherlands would continue for many months. But that fact does not diminish the courage of those who fought here, or the importance of what they accomplished. The paratroopers who descended over Groesbeek and Nijmegen did not know what the next hour would bring. They knew the mission was difficult. They knew the enemy was close. And they understood that people they had never met were depending on them. They fought for bridges and terrain, certainly. But they also fought for something larger: for the freedom of families in this community; for the right of a nation to live without occupation; and for the conviction that tyranny must not be allowed to prevail.

Many did not return home.

Today, we honor every Allied service member who served here - and especially those who gave their lives. We honor the Dutch civilians who suffered, resisted, helped others at great personal risk, and endured the consequences of war. Their sacrifice is not a chapter closed in a history book. It is a responsibility handed forward to each new generation.

1944: We stood with you.

But remembrance is not passive. It is an act of stewardship.

That is why this gathering matters so deeply to Americans. The people of the Netherlands have done far more than preserve monuments and cemeteries. You have preserved individual stories. You have cared for graves. You have placed flowers. You have researched the lives of men who were buried far from their homes and connected them to families across an ocean. You have maintained memorials, organized ceremonies, taught young people, and made remembrance a living tradition.

Across the Netherlands, the adoption of American graves and names of the missing is a profound expression of gratitude and human dignity. In communities such as Groesbeek, that same spirit is visible in the annual commemorations, in the local historians and volunteers, in the schools, and in families who pass this history from one generation to the next.

To all who make that work possible—organizers, caretakers, educators, veterans’ organizations, local officials, and especially the young people who will inherit this responsibility—thank you.

You remind us that the fallen are not forgotten when their names are spoken, their graves are tended, and their service is taught with honesty and care. You remind us that freedom is not self-sustaining. It requires memory, vigilance, and partnership.

And that brings us to the present. In 2026, the United States and the Netherlands remain close allies, united not simply by history, but by shared values and shared responsibilities. Our service members continue to work together. Our nations continue to stand for security, democratic institutions, individual liberty, and the international order that generations before us fought to defend.

The bonds between our nations were not created in a single moment. They were built over 250 years, and strengthened in moments when standing together truly mattered. They were strengthened by a salute from a Dutch fort in 1776. They were strengthened by the courage shown in these fields in 1944. And they are strengthened today by the people gathered here: Americans and Dutch; soldiers and civilians; veterans, families, and young people.

So let us renew our commitment to remember faithfully, to honor humbly, and to carry forward the cause for which so many gave their lives. To the people of Groesbeek and the Netherlands: thank you for keeping faith with our fallen. Thank you for safeguarding their memory. Thank you for showing the world that gratitude can endure across generations.

1776: You stood with us. 1944: We stood with you. 2026: We still stand together.

Thank you. Lang leve Nederland!

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