Aged 82nd Airborne veterans visit Nijmegen one more time

NIJMEGEN – In appreciation for the assistance Dutch resistance people gave the 82nd Airborne Division during their stay in Nijmegen during the winter of 1944/1945, General James Gavin helped in rebuilding the university. Among other things, the soldiers collected funds which they used to ship 30,000 books from the U.S. to the university library. The new medical facility, which opened in 1951, was dedicated to the 800 casualties the 82nd had lost. A memorial plaque reminds people of Nijmegen’s ties with the division. The medical facility, now known as UMC St. Radboud, recently welcomed a party of 50 veterans, all between the ages of 85 and 90, who dropped by for what very likely is their last visit. They had stopped in on their way to Normandy, for the June 6 commemorations.