On the north side of the road.

The memorial comprises a triangular formation of seven metal plaques, each engraved with AA from the patch of the 82nd Airborne Division (All American), a profile of a soldier wearing a helmet, and information on each Paratrooper who died during the seizure of the Heuman lock bridge from German forces during Operation MARKET GARDEN on 17 September 1944.

Across the Maas-Waal Canal in September 1944 were four bridges that would play a role in Operation MARKET GARDEN. These bridges were the target for the 1st Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, which landed near Overasselt ( DZ OBOE) on 17 September 1944. 

Germans blew up or destroyed the bridges near Malden, Hatert, and the Honinghutje, so that no military vehicles could cross them. The southernmost and smallest bridge, a vertical-lift bridge known as Bridge Number 7 (in American attack plans), the Molenhook bridge or Heumen lock bridge, was located between Heumen and Molenhoek, near the sluice at the current intersection of Kapitein Postmalaan and Sluisweg. Local artist Jac Maris, as head of the regional resistance, had shown the Americans the way to this bridge. On deploying after landing, American forces were well positioned to attack the bridge from both sides, but the Germans stood their ground until nightfall.

Eventually, this bridge, as the only one of the four, could be taken intact, turned out to be essential for the liberation of Nijmegen. This was the only bridge heavy British vehicles could use to get to Nijmegen. Seven U.S. paratroopers from Company B, 1st Battalion, lost their lives during the fighting around Lock Bridge in Heumen, including: Sergeant Lawrence F. Blazina, Technician 4th Grade Onie A. Burnett, Private Donald W. Forein, Private Fred Grainger, Private Patrick J. McGrath, Private Jerry M. Murphy, and Private Edward J. Schutt. All were buried initially in a temporary cemetery in Molenhoek after their death. Five of them were later reburied at the American cemetery in Margraten. Only Burnett was reburied in his home state of Kentucky, in the United States.

Starting in September 2026, on the 82nd anniversary of U.S. 82nd Airborne Division landings in the Nijmegen region during Operation MARKET GARDEN, and the beginning of the liberation of the region from German occupation, the Triangle of Tribute project marked the names of 82 soldiers at the locations where they lost their lives there.  Memorials, including these seven plaques at Heumen, are located at sites where fierce fighting took place in the triangular area between Grave, Groesbeek and Nijmegen, forming a triangle of remembrance and tribute. Triangle of Tribute is a joint project of

Foundation Groesbeek Airborne Vrienden, Foundation In Memory of Market Garden and Foundation Remember September 1944.

Sources of information: www.europeafrica.army.mil, www.europeremembers.com

Source of photos: www.europeafrica.army.mil/ Sarah Ridenour