(Seul le discours prononcé fait foi)
This is a day of remembrance.
This is a day of celebration.
This is a day for reflection and thought.
This is a day for prayer.
This is a day for the post-war generation to show modesty and respect.
This is a day to honour the memory of those brave Allied soldiers who made the greatest sacrifice of all for a free and democratic Europe.
This is a day to pay tribute and show our deepest respect and recognition to the war veterans who have gathered with us here today.
It is freezing cold today. Just try to imagine under what harsh conditions these courageous young men were living in the forest of the Ardennes; squeezed together in precarious shelters and foxholes thousands of miles away from home; wondering whether they would spend Christmas and New Years’ Eve with their beloved ones.
When on December 16, 1944, 5:30 a.m. the German Army launched its assault, Allied troops were completely taken by surprise. This was the beginning of one of the cruelst battles of the Second World War, the "Battle of the Bulge". Initially out-numbered by the overwhelming German forces, the Allied troops finally managed with air support to drive back the aggressors. By early February 1945, Luxembourg and the Ardennes were free again.
The Battle of the Bulge was cruel, fierce, barbaric and brutal. It was the German Dictator’s desperate attempt to reverse the irreversible. By launching the assault in the Ardennes, the Dictator accelerated his own defeat and demise.
For the North of Luxembourg, this Battle was one of the worst things that ever happened. For those young Allied soldiers who resisted and fought heroically it was the most terrible experience in their life.
What a waste of human lives and human talent: the Battle of the Bulge resulted in the killing of more than 50.000 soldiers and civilian on both sides, with 80.000 more wounded and 35.000 captured or missing.
So many individual biographies lost.
So many lives destroyed.
So many destinies ruined.
So many children never born because their fathers did not come home.
The people of Luxembourg have not forgotten and will never forget the sacrifice made by young American GIs and British soldiers for their country, their freedom, their future and for the restoration of democracy and peace on the European continent.
And it is the duty and responsibility of the post-war generations to keep the memory alive and to pass on the lessons learnt to the younger generations who can live a carefree life.
And allow me finally to express our gratitude to all those who have been working for reconciliation and I am thinking in particular of the war veterans. They are the true messengers of peace, the true ambassadors of reconciliation.
We must never forget. History must not repeat itself. This is what we owe to those who lost their lives sixty years ago.