A special commemoration event took place at the home of CPL Jerome Morse celebrating the 65th anniversary of his jump in Holland. On September 17, 1944 CPL "Jerry" Morse parachuted into Holland from a C-47 transport plane that had an engine trailing smoke. He landed on his back in a cornfield.

Bullets immediately began whizzing overhead, chipping off bits of cornstalk that rained down on him. "I was too scared to ssit up to unbuckle my parachute" he recalled. Instead, he slashed off the straps with a knife, inadvertently cutting away hte pack that contained his extra socks, grenades, blanket and field rations. He left all of it behind as he crawled away under fire. "I didn't take off my boots for a month" Jerry said.

Morse and other members of the 82nd Airborne Division having jumped 60 miles behind enemy lines were tasked with capturing the bridge at Nijmegen. His unit captured the bridge by paddling across the Waal River in collapsible boats, suffering horrendous losses in the process.

MG Ted Blocker was invited to the event which started with posting of the colors by a Navy Color Guard. Several speakes included MG Blocker who expressed his personal and direct gratitude for the sacrifices made by these fine American soldiers that helped the Dutch people to be liberated from NAZI occupation.. MG Blocker explained that as a 10 year old boy living just miles away, watched so many airplanes fly by not knowing that they were loaded with paratroopers. Had it not been for these brave men, I would not be here with you, he said.