Seven names, 82 years later: Heumen honors fallen U.S. paratroopers

Seven names, 82 years later: Heumen honors fallen U.S. paratroopers

By Sgt. Griffin Payne, 21st TSC Public Affairs

HEUMEN, Netherlands - Eighty-two years after seven American paratroopers lost their lives fighting near the Heumen Lock Bridge, their names now hold a permanent place on the ground where they fought.

Dutch residents, U.S. service members, local leaders and visitors gathered Sept. 17, 2026, as seven Triangles of Tribute were unveiled, honoring paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who died during Operation Market Garden in 1944.

The Heumen Lock Bridge played a critical role in the operation. The bridge served as the only intact crossing over the Maas-Waal Canal, allowing Allied ground forces to continue their advance toward Nijmegen after American paratroopers secured the area.

The ceremony focused on the men behind that history. "Above all, today we remember the people behind that history," said Joerie Minses, mayor of Heumen. "Young men who had left their homes behind to bring freedom to others."

The seven paratroopers lost their lives during the fighting around the bridge were Lawrence F. Blazina, Onie A. Burnett, Donald W. Forein, Fred Grainger, Patrick J. Mcgrath, Jerry M. Murphy and Edward J. Schutt. Their names now stand near the place where they fought. The Triangles of Tribute turn the battle from a number into seven individual Soldiers, each with a life that began far from Heumen before the war brought them to the Netherlands.

Forein, for example, came from Ridge Farm, Illinois. Before joining the Army, he played football and basketball, ran track, played the tuba and sang in school. By Sept. 17, 1944, he had crossed an ocean and joined fellow paratroopers fighting for a bridge in the Netherlands.

The story of each of these fallen heroes can be found at www.triangleoftribute.com.

"With the unveiling of the seven Triangles of Tribute on the wall of the pumping station, we are giving their names and their stories a permanent place among us," Minses said. "In doing so, we help ensure that their sacrifice will never be forgotten."

For local historian Jos Roozenbeek, the history surrounding the bridge reaches beyond troop movements and battlefield maps. "It's important because of the goals of the 101st Airborne Division and 82nd Airborne Division. They reached all their goals, and they freed the south of the Netherlands because of their actions," Roozenbeek said.

Roozenbeek also carries a personal connection to the events of 1944 through his mother, who witnessed the fighting as a 15-year-old girl.

Her memories gave Roozenbeek a connection to Operation Market Garden beyond books and battlefield maps. They also showed what the arrival of American troops meant to Dutch civilians who lived through the fighting.

The fighting continued after the initial airborne landings. "What a lot of people do not know is that the American paratroopers fought for about two months in heavy conditions in this area because the Germans were not away," Roozenbeek said.

Families and communities carried those memories forward after the war and passed them from one generation to the next. The Triangle of Tribute project continues that tradition by connecting fallen Soldiers to the locations where they fought and died.

Minses said remembrance also carries a responsibility for the generations who inherited the freedom those Soldiers helped secure. "Freedom requires more than remembrance," Minses said. "It requires commitment."

That commitment brought people back to Heumen 82 years later to remember Blazina, Burnett, Forein, Grainger, Macgrath, Murphy and Schutt by name and preserve their stories for future generations.

"Their sacrifice gave others a future," Minses said. "The very least we can do is safeguard the freedom they helped secure."

Eighty-two years after the battle, the community of Heumen continues to remember the seven Americans who never returned home.