Dutch Veterans Day marked without parade as King speaks with veterans in The Hague
Thousands gathered Saturday at the Malieveld in The Hague to mark the annual Dutch Veterans Day, an event dedicated to thanking more than 100,000 veterans for their service, Omroep Brabant reports. King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Schoof attended the commemoration, which was held without the traditional military parade because police staffing was limited due to the NATO summit.
Since 2005, Veterans Day has taken place on the last Saturday of June as a national expression of gratitude. Normally, a parade forms the highlight, with about 4,000 veterans and active-duty soldiers marching around the Hofvijver, followed by historic military vehicles. Traditionally, King Willem-Alexander receives the parade at the Kneuterdijk. In the absence of the parade, the king spent time inside the Koninklijke Schouwburg, adjacent to the Malieveld, speaking with veterans about their experiences.
One story that may have been shared with the king came from Dave van Kollenburg, a 36-year-old veteran from Boxtel. He was 21 when he was deployed for four and a half months in Afghanistan. “It is very intense to go there as a kid,” Van Kollenburg told Omroep Brabant. He recalled a traumatic moment after a Taliban attack when he entered a crèche. “That was very intense. There was a ten-month-old baby lying there, on fire. The screaming…”
Van Kollenburg picked up the child but watched helplessly as she died. A local interpreter told him the baby’s father said, “It was just a girl.” Van Kollenburg, visibly emotional, said, “Girls don’t mean much there, and that affected me a lot. Hello! It is still a little human!”
After leaving the military a few years later, he hoped to resume a normal life. Instead, he was haunted by his deployment. “I got flashbacks, nightmares, became paranoid. Even at the gym, I thought a garbage bag could be a bomb.”
He was diagnosed with PTSD and received behavioral therapy. “I’ve learned to cope with it, but I’m still not there,” he said. “I go to bed with death and wake up with it.”
Veterans Day featured many stories like Van Kollenburg’s. Across the Netherlands, community centers and cafés now offer spaces where veterans can meet and share their experiences.
However, Peter Drenth, a provincial official from Gelderland, warned that local governments are still falling short in caring for veterans. Speaking to Omroep Gelderland, Drenth said municipalities are legally obligated to provide support but often fail to do so. “Many municipalities are not even aware of their role in implementing the Veterans Law. Throughout the Netherlands, I think we should reflect more on the people who gave what they could for peace and security,” he said. “We should handle that with more care.”
Stefan Hop of the Defense Personnel Union said that proper aftercare for veterans does not have to be complicated. “Make sure a child has time off to welcome their military parent home from a mission,” Hop said. “Also think of adapted holidays.”
Hop also stressed that more attention should go to partners and children of veterans, because they also must learn to cope with the impact of deployments.
Van Kollenburg has embraced that advice. With his wife, he started a business creating ornaments and urns for veterans and others coping with loss. “I decided not to see mourning as a dark edge anymore,” he wrote on his website. “I want to help people to reflect on farewells in a stylish, warm way.”
“Now I experience it differently,” Van Kollenburg said. “And I try to convince other veterans that it is okay to seek help for PTSD.”
