Date of birth:

October 29th, 1984 (Nijmegen/Gelderland province, the Netherlands)

Date of death:

December 19th, 2008 (near Kala Kala, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan)

Buried on:

Dutch War Grave Puiflijk Roman Catholic Cemetery

Service number:

841029024

Nationality:

Dutch

Sergeant Mark Weijdt was born on October 29, 1984, in the Radboud hospital in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He was the son of John and Petra Weijdt and had two younger sisters, Janneke and Sayra. Already at a young age he was very sports-loving and at an age of six years, until his demise, he was an avid soccer player in the local soccer club, Sportclub Puiflijk (SCP), usually as a left striker. Also at a young age, around his 12th birthday, he knew that one day he would earn the red beret, in the Army. He already knew that he would have to have an excellent physical condition and thus he practiced sports a lot. At first soccer and later he additionally went to the gym too.

After his elementary school, at ‘t Geerke in Puiflijk, he went for his secondary school education to the Pax Christi College in Druten. He followed the preparatory vocational education in the direction of administration and graduated in May 2001. Besides practicing sports, he had several side jobs to make some extra money; first in the local cafeteria and later at a metal processing factory in Boven-Leeuwen.
Mark was full of life, a real family man and always in the mood for a joke. He also hated injustice.

From August, 2001, untill August, 2002, Mark followed the Royal Army Orientation Year. At the same time he got his Basic Security Certificate.
In early October, 2002, his time had come; not even at an age of 18, he reported to the Training Battalion Air Mobile at the "Oranje" barracks in Schaarsbergen for his training to become a “red beret”. After successfully ending his training, he was assigned to the 12th Infantry Battalion ‘van Heutz’, 11nd Air Mobile Brigade in Schaarsbergen. He found his spot in the Bravo Company ‘Wonju’.

In 2004, he went on his first mission abroad, for the mission Stabilisation Force in Iraq (SFIR). During rotation SFIR-4 he was a ‘Minimi’ light machine gunner in the guards troop at Camp Smitty, near As-Samawah, the provincial capital of Al-Muthanna. After completing his first mission, he then joined the training program to become a long distance marksman (sniper) and spotter. Following, he went through the training to become Combat Life Saver (CLS).
In 2006 Mark went for his next mission with his unit to Camp Holland, near Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. His unit was part of the first battlegroup of 1(NL)Taskforce Uruzgan (TFU), International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). He was one of the “Sierra’s”, a sniper/spotter, and second in command of the “Sierra”-group.

In 2008 Mark was asked to do another tour with the “Sierra’s” in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. He would become commander of the “Sierra”-group and thus would lead them. He was eager to do it, but only on his terms that he could pick the men for the sniper group. His commanding officer agreed. Mark was then promoted to sergeant and in November, 2008, he went to Uruzgan for the second time, as part of Battlegroup 8 of TFU-5, ISAF.

Mid-December he was, together with his unit, deployed for a three days operation in the northern entrance of the Baluchi valley, when tragedy struck. In the morning of December 19, 2008, the last day of the operation, the reconnaissance troop got in contact with Taliban fighters near Kala Kala. An fire fight followed. Mark’s company advanced with two troops from Niazi, to support the reconnaissance troop. When Mark wanted to take a good position for sniping on a hill, he suddenly stepped on a dug-in improvised explosive device (probably a 82 mm shell with a pressure plate) that then detonated. Mark was killed instantly.

On December 19, 2008, Sergeant Mark Weijdt was 24 years old when he was killed in action in Uruzgan. He left behind his parents, his two sisters and his girlfriend Milja. He was the eighteenth Dutch soldier to die in Afghanistan. According to his wishes, his ashes were buried after cremation at the Cemetery of the Roman Catholic Church in Puiflijk, Gelderland province, the Netherlands. On Wednesday July 12, 2023, the viaduct on the Schriksestraat crossing the Maas and Waal highway near Afferden was named after Sergeant Mark Weijdt and since carries a plaque with his name.

Mark was awarded the following decorations:
- The Memorial medal of Peace operations with the following clasps:
“STABILISATION FORCE IRAK"
"2 - ISAF"
- NATO-medaille with the clasp:
"2 - ISAF"
he clasps “2 – ISAF” for both medals were posthumously awarded.
Mark also was posthumously awarded the socalled “combat insignia”, formally known as “insignia for conduct under combat circumstances”.
Mark had earned the following skills emblems:
-parachutist A
-long distance marksman (sniper)
-basic marksman
-military physical skill
He also received the commemorative emblem Air Mobile Brigade.

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• Photo 1: Ministerie van Defensie
• Photo 2: Tracesofwar.nl by Arjan Vrieze
• - https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.19.255.01/invnr/204980A/file/NL-HaNA_2.19.255.01_204980A_0001
  - https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/personen/204980/mark-weijdt
  - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40713106/mark-weijdt
  - https://www.demaasenwaler.nl/algemeen/algemeen/48385/viaduct-vernoemd-naar-sergeant-mark-weijdt
  - https://www.destentor.nl/nijmegen/viaduct-vernoemd-naar-militair-die-sneuvelde-in-uruzgan-mark-is-nu-onze-held-op-een-kunstwerk~a8d31b39/
  - https://www.gelderlander.nl/maas-en-waal/vrienden-en-collega-s-gedenken-mark-weijdt~a35d123f/
  - https://druten.nieuws.nl/gemeente/viaduct-in-gemeente-druten-wordt-vernoemd-naar-sergeant-mark-weijdt
  - https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/opnieuw-nederlandse-dode-in-afghanistan~be026af6/
  - http://Mark Weijdt | Gesneuveld in Afghanistan (omroepv.nl) 27 okt 2021
  - Contact met nabestaanden van Sgt Mark Weijdt
  

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