Sikeston father, son in Netherlands to honor World War II veterans

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Two Sikeston residents are in the Netherlands this week to take part in 65th anniversary ceremonies honoring World War II veterans of Operation Market Garden.

As members of the not-for-profit precision World War II Airborne Demonstration Team, Jay Elliott, 36, will be among those making low-altitude parachute jumps while his father, Jim Elliott, 67, will be photographing the events.

When Operation Market Garden took place in mid-September 1944, the joint Allied airborne operation was the largest of its kind ever attempted. The operation was the subject of the 1974 book "A Bridge Too Far," followed by a movie of the same name in 1977.

In honor of the veterans who jumped into danger six and half decades ago, members of the team will parachute at Overasselt on Friday and at Eerde on Sunday from a vintage C-47 military transport plane using round military chutes, wearing period uniforms and gear.

"All of our jumps are usually between 1,000 and 1,500 feet," Jay Elliott said. "The idea is, it's a combat jump and you are going to have people shooting at you and you don't want to be in the air any longer than necessary."

The team will be doing a World War II-style static line mass exit airdrop. Elliott said that instead of pulling a ripcord to deploy the chute manually, team members are hooked up by a 15-foot static line to an anchor cable in the aircraft.

When they reach the end of that 15-foot line, it deploys a pilot chute which in turn causes the main chute to open.

From the time they leave the airplane, "generally it's four to five seconds before your canopy is deployed," Elliott said. "At 1,000 feet, you have about 10 seconds before you hit the ground."

Organizers are expecting a crowd of more than 150,000 spectators, including world leaders, dignitaries and Dutch citizens who were present when Operation Market Garden took place.

During their stay in the Netherlands, the Elliotts and other members of the team will be accompanied by U.S. Army veterans, including paratroopers from the famed 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions that parachuted into Europe during World War II.

In addition to doing the low-altitude parachute jumps, team members and their families will also take part in commemorative events and gatherings during their two-week stay.

Elliott said he hopes the event will increase awareness of the team, based in Frederick, Okla., as the not-for-profit group is trying to raise funds to replace an engine on its C-47.

"The main thing is we are really hurting for funds for that engine right now," he said.

For more information on the commemorative jumps in the Netherlands, ADT history, ADT jump school and other ADT information, visit www.wwiiadt.org.