Market Garden was not the pleasant place the name conjured up.

Arthur James Earl was born in Colorado in 1920, to Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Earl. The Earl family also included sons Kenneth and Richard and daughters Anita and Helen. When he was two years old, the family moved into a house on Front Street in Watsonville, California. Arthur attended local elementary schools and about 1934, studied at Watsonville High School for one year. After leaving school, he worked as a painter in the Pajaro Valley for the Speas Company.

On March 7, 1942, Arthur Earl reported to the induction center in San Francisco and was enlisted as an infantry private. His basic training took place at Camp Roberts, California, followed by paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Georgia. During this period, Arthur and Elsie were married.

In January 1944, Earl was assigned to the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division and sent to England. After participating in the Normandy campaign, the 501st Regiment was ordered to Holland for Operation Market Garden.

“This was an audacious plan concocted by British Field Marshal Montgomery that would be the first major daylight air assault attempted by a military power since Germany's attack on Crete. Similar to the German assault of four years earlier, the Allies initial plan for September 17, 1944 was to use the paratroopers and glider men of the 82nd and 101st US Airborne Divisions and England's First Airborne Division in a daring daylight drop into Holland. The airborne Allied troops were to seize roads, bridges and the key communication cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, thus cutting Holland in half and clearing a corridor for British armoured and motorized columns all the way to the German border. The 101st mission was to secure the fifteen miles of Hell's Highway stretching from Eindhoven north to Veghel. The 501st was specifically tasked to drop 4 miles south of Veghel and seize railroad and highway bridges over the Aa River and the Willems Canal. Though Lt. Col. Kinnard's 1st Battalion landed wide of their mark, they landed all together and were quickly able to seize two railroad bridges to the west of Veghel. Meanwhile, the other two battalions were able to seize intact the road bridges over the Willems Canal and Aa River.”

On September 11, Private Earl jumped with the 2nd Battalion of the 501st Paratroop Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on Dropzone A near Veghel, Holland. During the succeeding days, his unit engaged in heavy fighting while defending the city.

Arthur J. Earl was killed in action at Veghel on September 23, 1944. His remains were buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands; his awards include the Purple Heart.

(ABMC; NARA2; WRP October 11, 1944 1:4; 101st Airborne World War II, 501st Inf Paratroop Regiment, http://www.ww2- airborne.us/units/501/501.html, [16 September 2008])