Oosterbeek and the War Memorial - Dedicated to Paul Nordin



We needed to visit the Elders in Arnhem. We were leaving about 5pm and decided to go to Oosterbeek. I had spent nine
months in Arnhem but had never visited the neighboring community.  Paul Nordin, a companion of mine during mymission told me about Oosterbeek when he was sick with cancer. I had often heard of the parachute landings by the allied forces in the area. He went into much more detail of the battle fought there. He showed a great love for the area.  A visit to Oosterbeek was something I had wanted to do after that talk with Paul.  This is the memorial with the graves of some 1400 of the thousands that did not return. The grass is cut like a putting green and neatly edged. We were there on the day commemorating freedom from the Germans.



I had heard Oosterbeek was beautiful. This picture does not correctly show the canopy formed by the trees that then shades the ground. Oosterbeek is dominated with tall trees and beautiful old mansions. It is likely the most beautiful spot in Holland, but it is different. Hills for one. And there are just so many different beautiful spots in Holland.



Another reason Oostebeek is so beautiful are these flowers. We have not seen them anywhere else. They grow on large  bushes that are 6 to 8 feet tall. In the prior picture you can see that the border of the war memorial is lined with these flowers.



On the way out of Oosterbeek, the GPS guided us North away from Arnhem, instead of South. I thought this would be good. We could see more of the country which is always delightful. We saw a sign for what we thought was a castle and followed it. Didn't find the castle but we found a reception center on a hill over looking the Rijn valley. I saw a man watering flowers with a San Diego hat on and just had to talk to him. This is Pete Bodaveese. He is 83. He took us to the look out point. We could see a rail road bridge. He talked about the battle that took place below. He has visted America several times and love it. We had a great visit that must have lasted an hour. Pete said his wife would ask him why it took so long to water the flowers. We promised to visit the next time we were in Arnhem.



This is a picture of the Rijn river below with a cruise ship going up the river.



This is a picture of Elder Paul Nordin on the left with Elder Duane Brown in the middle and Elder Jones on the right. Paul and Duane have passed away. Both were striken with cancer. I took the picture in 1973 at the Keukenhof Gardens.