Memorial Day remarks
Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial
Hamm, Luxembourg
26 May 12
This weekend, Americans honor those who have sacrificed for freedom and liberty.
We memorialize the brave men and women who sacrificed for a cause greater than themselves.
There are dignitaries from the United States at various battlefields throughout Europe today, all speaking about our heroes -- our soldiers -- who gave so much for others.
Throughout history, armies have marched over ground to conquer it, to enslave the people, to take the resources as their own.
But as a soldier of the U.S. Army, the only ground our nation desires to occupy is one like this … where we bury our dead.
Our nation has no desire, only liberty.
Frankly, sometimes those who do not fight and die for the opportunity to be free often do not understand the high price that is paid for this status.
I have not found that to be the case in Belgium, in the Netherlands, and here in Luxembourg.
For me, the local citizens of the towns and villages throughout Luxembourg, who watch over the cemeteries and remember our soldiers with monuments, represent how everyone should remember our heroes.
(pause)
It is so quiet now. Listen.
But sixty nine years ago, battle raged in the cities and villages near here.
In those sixty nine years, the seeds of hope and joy and freedom, planted and watered with the blood and tears of those young men who rest out there, have blossomed.
And the citizens of Luxembourg have remembered. I learned that last spring, when i visited the small but strategically important town of Clervaux.
(pause)
I was on a battlefield staff ride with many of my commanders, studying the gruesome fighting that marked the beginning of the Ardennes offensive.
We spent a day in Clervaux.
The citizens of the town found we would be there, and they asked us to take a pause in our study, and lay a wreath at a monument to our soldiers.
Although I've laid wreaths at monuments to our fallen all across Europe, what was remarkable and moving was the enormous effort by the members of le Cercle d'Etudes sur la Bataille des Ardennes (Ceba), (the Center for the Study of the Battle of the Ardennes) to preserve the memory of the soldiers who fought and died in that town, and in many others towns throughout Luxembourg.
You see, in November, 1944, Clervaux had been liberated from four years of German occupation.
The citizens were beginning to speak French again, and they no longer were wearing the pins which stated "Heim ins Reich." The city was returning to the peaceful life it knew before 1940.
But in the pre-dawn hours of a cold and snowy 16 December, the quiet was shattered by the crash of a seemingly endless artillery barrage, which foreshadowed an assault from some of Germany's most elite troops in a desperate bid to divide allied lines.
After hours of vicious street to street fighting, the men of Pennsylvania's 28th division scrambled into the castle of Clervaux to make a final stand.
Surrounded by massive artillery fire, and a sea of tanks and German Infantry, they put up a stubborn defense, hanging on desperately until they were out of ammunition and the castle lay in burning ruins around them.
As the panzers broke through their last defense, the few men left were forced to surrender.
But their sacrifice was not lost on the citizens of Clervaux.
On that day, the citizens of Clervaux saw first hand the price those young Americans made to defend a country they did not know, and a people they had never met.
After the tide was turned, and the soldiers of 12 different us divisions liberated the town once again, the people of Clervaux were determined to honor the legacy of those brave young men.
The citizens have adopted the veterans of Clervaux as their own.
Today, the people of that small Luxembourg town have hosted veterans and their families for sixty-nine years in annual commemorations to thank them for their sacrifice.
(pause)
Many of the men who perished in frigid December battles -- at Clervaux, at Berle', at Moutfort, at Pe'tange, at Vianden, and at many other -- are interred here in Hamm. Forever young.
But their legacy will live forever, thanks to the people of Clervaux, and to the people of Luxembourg.
(pause)
On the hallowed grounds of the this cemetery, under the eternal gaze of the angel of peace (above the chapel door), lie interred 5,076 young American men. A further 371 men are memorialized on the pylons flanking the chapel.
This cemetery was established on 29 December, 1944, only 13 days after the enemy assault on the Ardennes.
Although the American Battle Monuments Commission preserves this sacred place with diligent reverence, the people of Luxembourg bless us with their continued service in honoring these heroes.
And every year since 1945, the American people and the Duchy of Luxembourg have commemorated memorial day here.
(pause)
I would suggest the most heartfelt tribute is by the people of Luxembourg who continue to visit these graves, and who leave a small token of respect to a soldier to whom their only connection is eternal gratitude.
(pause)
Sixty nine years have brought healing and hope to Europe, and a friendship with America born through common suffering and a love of freedom.
Today our young men and women are part of an alliance on other battlefields in distant lands, where the cost of liberty is no cheaper than it was in 1944.
Those soldiers remind us of our commitment to one another. And to freedom and liberty.
The price of liberty is high. Those who are asked to pay that price should always be honored, and should always be in our memory.
The people of Luxembourg understand that, and for that this soldier and his bride are very grateful.
Thank you very much, and God bless you all.
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