Guide for Veterans

As a child, Bernard Florissen (born 1943) would hear war stories during family gatherings. He found the history of Opheusden fascinating, as a village on the frontline. It’s where he grew up and still lives in his childhood home now. “The jeeps, the guns, all incredibly exciting.” Born in May 1943, he has no memories of the fierce battles fought around Opheusden between 4 and 15 October 1944, when the Germans clashed with American and British forces. His parents fled from the violence with their four children.

“The eastern part of Opheusden fled to the liberated province of North-Brabant. The western side, where we lived, fled towards occupied territory. In Eck en Wiel, we first stayed with a farmer, but there were too many people there already, including Jewish refugees. So, we moved into the vicarage.” When the Betuwe region was flooded in December 1944, the family had to leave again, eventually settling with Bernard’s grandfather in Ede. There, they stayed until the liberation.

“When we returned home my father told us our house was intact, only the roof tiles were missing. The front door had been forced open, and our Bible lay on the table, as if someone had been reading it. There was also a collection of wall clocks, spoils of war.”

Even after the war, Opheusden bore the scars of battle. Bernard often visited three nearby houses that had been damaged by a crashed V-1 rocket. “Sometimes children were late to school, because the body of a soldier had been found. We searched for guns, helmets, and uniforms. Bullet casings too, which we traded for other items as copper was scarce back then.”

His first encounter with living soldiers was in 1956, when a bus full of veterans arrived in the village. “The Americans wanted to see where they had fought. They were welcomed by the mayor and a teacher.” Bernard was left speechless. “I didn’t speak any English and thought to myself: this will never happen to me again.” He took a three-year English course.

He read everything he could about the war and visited battlefields. His books are filled with names and addresses jotted in the margins. On his coat rack hangs a jacket bearing the Screaming Eagle insignia of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division. An old army jeep stands outside his house.

Over the years, he has guided more than 50 veterans to the places where they were stationed or had fought. His motivation? Gratitude. “When you see what the Americans sacrificed for us… Just count the graves at the war cemetery in Margraten.”

Every five years, a busload of veterans would arrive. They would describe a location—“near the dike, with a farmhouse that looked like this or that”—but finding that one specific house, that one side road they had photographed decades ago, was nearly impossible. Bernard helped the former soldiers find their way. Leading them to the spot where a comrade had fallen was even more difficult. “When the Betuwe was flooded, all the white crosses marking graves got washed away.”

Once, Bernard managed to return a lighter to the relatives of a fallen British soldier. “In 1943, a bomber crashed here. Through various sources, I came across a lighter belonging to a crew member, inscribed with the initials E.A.S. Someone knew he was buried in Uden. There, I found the full name that matched the initials, I was able to send the item to his family. The recipient broke down in tears when the package arrived—it was the only tangible reminder he had left of his brother.”

He also helped the son of a deceased American soldier. The man was searching for the place where “a young couple” had cared for his wounded father. Bernard took him to the home of his, now-deceased, cousin Wim and his wife Dir van de Bosch. He had heard their story during family gatherings and read about it in Wim’s diary.

Bernard has folders full of thank-you letters and photos from American soldiers and their families. “The visits have now come to an end. I was rewarded for my efforts with a flag that was raised at the White House in my honour for a day.”

In 1999, partly thanks to Florissen, a monument to the 101st Airborne Division was erected in front of the Opheusden town hall. “After all, every one of those fallen soldiers had parents, brothers, and sisters mourning their loss.”

Interview with Bernard Florissen
By: Ineke Inklaar