Battlefield Tour

Another Dutch Airborne Friend joins our tour, Don Daan Viergever of nearby Zetten. He like Wim Wibte of Dodewaard, remembers as a child seeing the sky filled with planes that brought their liberation from the Nazi occupiers. Here we all are next to Bernhard's jeep along the dike road that travels east to Arnhem, only 15 miles from Opheusden. Below we study a map on the hood of the jeep looking at the location of where Captain Richard Winters, Commanding Officer of Easy Company/506th PIR repulsed two SS companies which was attacking across the Neder Rijn to tie down Allied forces while the main attack concentrated on Opheusden. This action by the "Band of Brothers" was actually two separate fights, one at night and another at day. This was Winters last combat battle as he was made executive officer to replace the officers that were killed during the battle for the Island