John Lindemans will pay tribute Nov. 11 to the veterans of World War II, the people who liberated his homeland from the Nazis.

Lindemans was only a child when a firestorm of bombs fell on Holland.

He grew up in the city of Rotterdam and recalls May 10, 1940, the day the Nazis invaded.

Military leadership in Holland had signed documents capitulating to the Nazis to protect Rotterdam from further bombardment. The ink was barely dry, when Hitler’s goons violated the treaty and almost leveled the city, he said.

By the time the bombing ceased, 26,000 homes and 11,000 businesses were destroyed.

“There was no count on the number of people who perished,” he said.

Lindemans was only 4 years old at the time.

“You may wonder how I remember so clearly 65 years later. But I still cry,” he said of the painful memories.

He was playing with a toy zeppelin when the bombs started falling. His family was knocked back and forth as bombs fell nearby. His parents and three siblings fled the house.

“There was pandemonium outside,” he said.

The butcher’s store was afire, so he was trying to grab the meat and toss it to people in the streets. A paper factory was smoldering. Then the Lindemans’ house took a direct hit and the burning debris caught the factory afire.

He spotted an old Jewish Rabbi who had been his friend, giving him money for licorice. The rabbi was lying dead. Young Lindemans tried to pull his arm.

“He was the first person I ever saw, but I was to see many more,” Lindemans said.

Lindemans’ family fled the city and took refuge with a farmer, who gave them shelter in a hothouse. His father, Karel, was a produce wholesaler and had many friends in the countryside.

Eventually, the Lindemans were able to move into a house after the death of a woman his mother Cor was nursing.

Even so, conditions were pitiable. The Nazis stole all the food, and anything else of any value. Karel Lindemans did what he could to help the family survive and to take action against the Nazis. He listened to the urgings of the Queen of the Netherlands to continue fighting by writing down her words and distributing the speech in a newsletter.

By the time Allied Forces liberated Holland on May 5, 1945, Lindemans’ family were barely alive. Thirteen-year-old Jannie, his sister, had been raped, and though she lived until age 70, her development was retarded and mentally she remained a child. His brother Karel was seriously ill. But unlike uncles and aunts, they had survived the Nazi occupation.

Lindemans was drafted into the Dutch army before joining his older brothers in America. He lived in California for awhile, married and had four children. When his wife died, he later remarried. He and his wife Paula live in Oak Harbor, where he is owner of Coachman Construction.

Lindemans will share his story Nov. 11 in his tribute to vets. He also is writing a book about his wartime experiences.

“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. I’ve been sick and I’ve been healthy, but nothing is more important than to be free,” he said. “To be oppressed is the worst thing that can happen to anyone.”