Honorable members of Parliament
Dear members of the US Congress delegation
Honorable Robin Hayes
Ministers
Veterans
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear Friends
We are gathered here today at the Hamm military cemetery to remember and to honor the sacrifices of many young American men who more than sixty years ago, had come from very far away to give us, the people from Luxembourg, back the freedom which had been brutally taken from us.
In this fight for the future and freedom of Luxembourg, many left their young lives and found their eternal rest here in Hamm. We owe them profound respect and the deepest of gratitude, they, who probably had never heard of this country and its people before they left the United States of America. In spite of this, they took upon themselves the countless hardships and the risk to their lives to free us from the tyranny that had spread all over Europe They did this because they believed in the common values in which we continue to believe today, namely or first and foremost: freedom.
My thoughts today are also with their families and relatives who have had to live with the immense loss of their loved ones ever since. These young men paid the price, the very highest price for OUR freedom. We owe them our deepest gratitude for liberating our country. What we also owe them is to keep the memory of their sacrifices alive. Today more than sixty years later, they remain a shining example to us that it is worthwhile to stand up for the values we cherish, be it at the highest price.
To those who question the necessity of celebrations like the one today because of the many years that have passed since World War II, I would like to say that it is essential to know and commemorate the achievements of our parents and grand parents in order to avoid in the future the mistakes and the errors of the past.
Because only those who look back into their past, can start think about their future.
Because only those who understand their past, can start building their future.
We must never forget that freedom did not come to us, so to say, out of the blue - although the planes of the air force certainly came out of the blue sky.
Freedom was brought to us by our American friends, and we must never take freedom and peace for granted.
In Europe, we have been able to learn the tragic lessons of our history. Today, the European Union is the best expression of our common aim to live in peace. We cannot repeat and emphasize enough that the European Union is a project for peace, a guarantee for peace. It also provides its citizens with improved living conditions and it offers better perspectives to our children. Europe has come together over the last couple of years. We are now 25, more tomorrow. The Union has brought back together what history had torn apart, and this is a great achievement.
Whilst we should be proud of this achievement and also celebrate it, we should always remember that we would not have been able to move at all into the direction of an economic, social and political Union, had our American friends not liberated us from the nazi tyranny sixty years ago. Ever since, Europe and The United States of America have been standing side by side – closely together; ever since Europe has benefited from our American friends’ guarantees, in particular in terms of security. Without their staunch commitment during the cold war and afterwards, it would not have been possible for Luxembourg and Europe to enjoy the prosperity and peace we have now been enjoying for more than sixty years. I would therefore like to express my heartfelt gratitude to our American friends for this and say this more specifically here today in Hamm among those young US soldiers and their great leader General Patton.
Ambassador Wagner
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear friends
Remembrance is an essential function in human history. It helps us, especially the younger generation, to understand where we are coming from. It reminds us of our responsibilities. It illustrates what we owe our parents and grand parents. It enables us to build our future.
May we not forget.