Liberation of Eindhoven, Holland
September 18-20, 1944

On September 18, 1944, the 506th PIR fought its way into Eindhoven, the first large
Dutch city freed from the Nazis. While the Americans were in his hometown of
Eindhoven, Jacob van Slooten, an electronics engineer with the Philips Company,
went around taking pictures of the soldiers.

Please contact Hoyt Bruce Moore, III if you can identify any of the individual
Currahee paratroopers and/or which 506th PIR companies are in these photos.

photos from René van Slooten,
son of Jacob van Slooten
1LT Herbert R. Viertel

From René van Slooten:
The little boy in front is my brother, 2 years old at that time. When
I showed the picture to some veterans on the 60th anniversary of
the liberation (in 2004), one of them recognized the officer on the
right as 1LT Herbert Viertel, B Company, 1st BN, 506 PIR.

1LT Herbert R. Viertel was in 2nd Platoon, B Company, 1st BN,
506th PIR. There are a couple of stories about 1LT Herb Viertel on
WWII historian Mark Bando's web page Market-Garden Souvenirs
including his winning $200 as the first B Company Currahee to kill a
German soldier in Holland; being WIA in Bastogne; and taken prisoner
when the 101st Division hospital near Crossroads 'X' was captured.

Two paratroopers walking in the outskirts of Eindhoven, coming from the drop zone at Son.

Currahee paratroopers resting in the center of the town of Eindhoven

Currahee paratroopers enjoying beers given to them by the people of Eindhoven.
The white mark below the spade on the helmet indicated 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR.

From René van Slooten:
This is my mother with my brother Erik (born in 1942). My mother was
expecting me for 7 months at that time. I was born on 20 November,
and she often told me that she could hear the guns during the Battle
of the Bulge when she had to get up at night to feed me. In the back
you see an American and a British soldier having a relaxed conver-
sation leaning against a scout car. At this time the Americans were
already getting worried about the slow British advance.

My parents had a Jewish friend hidden in their house, but they were
betrayed. Fortunately they were tipped by a 'good' cop that the
Gestapo was going to arrest the friend and my parents. They could
get this friend out in time through the Resistance, but my parents
faced a sure arrest and probably a deportation to a concentration
camp, when Eindhoven was liberated prematurely due to Operation
Market Garden. That operation failed, but it surely saved the lives
of my parents, my brother and me! Now you know why my mother
looks so happy in this picture.

The American paratrooper in the photo may be Bob Lundy (D Co, 2nd BN, 506th PIR).

From Bob Lundy:
We came into Eindhoven and rested a while, then moved out of town 5 miles or so. The
Germans bombed the town that night. They thought they were going to catch us in town.

This photo is blurred because Jacob van Slooten
was among a dancing crowd, who were expressing
their joy when the American paratroopers entered
the town, and offering drinks to the soldiers.

September 19: a British Sherman tank rolls through the center of Eindhoven, as a Currahee
paratrooper watches from the balcony of a house. That same evening this house was destroyed
during the German bombardment of Eindhoven. The tall building on the left is Saint Catherine's
Church, whose twin towers still dominate the skyline of the center of Eindhoven.

photos from Niek Kramer, Netherlands

Aftermath of the German bombardment of Eindhoven on the evening of September 19.

These pages are maintained by veterans of
The 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment Association (Airmobile - Air Assault)
Send any changes or corrections to: Hoyt Bruce Moore, III "The Moe"
This page updated 10/05/09