[Editor's Note: The following story is a part of USAG Benelux’s “Honoring our Legacy” series in which we tell stories of the U.S. Army's 250-year history, our Soldiers and civilians, and our enduring legacy. Email public affairs to get involved in the USAG Benelux Army 250 campaign.]
BRUNSSUM, Netherlands – The engine, wheels, and other components of a tank are crucial but only when assembled do they form a functional vehicle. In the same way, each individual’s contribution to the 250-year history of the U.S. Army makes up the whole of its strength. Jos Luijten, a Dutch local national, has spent the last 43 years of his life contributing in his own way.
Since his youth, Luijten had particular interest in gaining employment with the U.S. Army in the Netherlands due in part to the stories of WWII liberation his parents and grandparents shared when he was a child. He remembers his grandmother sharing stories of how they housed U.S. Soldiers during the years of the war. In one instance, they worried that the tanks driving up the road were German but then were delighted to see it was actually U.S. Army Soldiers. Tents were set up in the yard, Soldiers offered chocolate, cigarettes, and chewing gum, and his grandparents provided meals—even in their lack— and all with no common language shared.
Luijten knew early on that military jobs were available in town. The job opportunities were greatly welcomed in the late 1960s when coal mines began shutting down. Relocation of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command headquarters to the area in 1967 provided a significant boost to the local economy.
“The [coal] mines were the biggest employer for the area. After the coal mines closed … there was a lot of unemployment in Brunssum,” said Luijten. “It was good that NATO was looking for a new installation. That meant also a lot of employment.”
With the stories from his youth stashed in his memory, Luijten found his way to continue his gratitude toward the U.S. Army. In 1982, he enrolled in an employment agency which connected him to a job with the Dutch Ministry of Defense in the commissary at the U.S. Army Garrison located in Schinnen. After nine months of stocking vegetables on the shelves, he found opportunity to move into an administrative clerk position in the Directorate of Public Works.
In the 1980s secretarial work flowed differently without the use of computers. Employees typed memorandums on typewriters and sent them by courier for signatures which would sometimes take more than a week to be returned.
“Back then every time you had to do a memorandum you had to retype the whole memorandum,” said Luijten about how process in the past took substantially more time than in modern days. “Now you can make a template on your computer … make your changes and hit print.”
Luijten went on to hold other positions with the garrison over the past 43 years including two stints at the JFC Brunssum International Chapel, Child Development Center, Network Enterprise Center (NEC), and currently back in the Directorate of Public Works but this time with the master planning division. Two of the moves were due to elimination of the positions and the others were opportunities for promotion.
His job at the chapel, where Luijten spent a combined 16 years, ranked as his favorite of all.
“When you give customer service and do something for people you get recognized right away—you can sense that people like it,” he said, about how these transactions contributed to overall job satisfaction for him. “It’s important that you’re happy at work.”
Luijten shared how his jobs with the NEC and the chapel also incorporated his Family with invitations to events around the holidays like pumpkin carving, a winter chili cook-off, and a visit from the Easter bunny. Sharing these elements of American culture with his children was special, he said.
Over the years, Luijten taught his children the importance of gratitude toward U.S. Soldiers who have preserved freedom, and his Family regularly honored their sacrifices at the Memorial Day ceremonies at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten and the Christmas Eve service commemorating the Mass of 1944 in De Schark cave in Maastricht.
“You can really sense what [the Soldiers] must have felt and also feel the importance of what they do,” he said about the atmosphere at the ceremonies. “I’m proud to be part of this [U.S. Army] team.”
Now his adult daughters come to him and ask about attending these significant events together because of the deep meaning it holds for them.
“[The U.S. Army birthday] is a big milestone—250 years,” said Luijten. “When you look back in history … it tells how important a good army is. With what’s going on right now in the world, it makes it even more important that we stick together as one to take care of our freedom.”
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