Speeches & Editorials
Memorial Day Speech
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten
U.S. Ambassador Roland E. Arnall
May 27, 2007
(As prepared for delivery)
Lieutenant General Blomjous;
General Craddock;
Excellencies;
Distinguished Guests;
Honored Veterans & Relatives of those who have fallen;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Robert E. Lee said, “What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.”
His words hold true for each one of us when war breaks our lives apart and lays claim to our soldiers – our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers – who are so brave, so selfless, and so ready to give their lives that we may live in societies that are free from tyranny, persecution, injustice and bias.
There are too many gravestones (in Europe) which resonate with the haunting, somber, memories of our past. Their raison d’etre shadow our present and follow us into the future. Yesterday, my wife Dawn and I quietly stepped into the past when we visited the National Monument Kamp Vught. The Kamp Vught concentration camp was a transport stop for a multitude of victims, some of whom were Dutch patriots, all of whom were on a journey without a destiny. Today, the National Monument is a gallant tribute to its victims, and a resounding commemoration from the people of the Netherlands.
We are gathered today to remember, to honor, and to celebrate the memory bequeathed to us by our soldiers who died in World War II, and the countless others who have died in subsequent wars. In Margraten, they sleep eternally; in our hearts, they live eternally; and, their burial sites have been adopted by and are cared for by the local people of this area. This is one of the silent strengths that underlies the enduring friendship and alliance between our two countries.
We become embroiled in war in defense of our rights, our freedoms, our ideologies – ultimately our survival. At other times, however, we are inescapably thrown or drawn into war in defense of another country’s survival against the brutal, despotic, and despicable regimes of evil incarnate. It was true of the totalitarian and fascist government in Nazi Germany during World War II, and it is true of the fanatically fundamentalist and totalitarian Taliban movement in Afghanistan today.
Both countries, their duplicitous – though charismatic - leaders, are guilty of attempting to exact complete domination of their people, envisioning global domination – the Nazis through socio-political control, and the Taliban through socio-religious theocratic control. It has been said “There is nobody as enslaved as the fanatic, the person in whom one impulse, one value, has assumed ascendancy over all others.” Such autocrats and their minions subjugate through deception and fear, and blind themselves to everything but their own repressive, abhorrent, ideologies.
The tenets of theocracy and fascism are parallel in many ways. The power of theocratic governments is divined through religious institutional demagogues. The power of fascist governments is controlled through tyrannical despots. Both are intolerant and abandon democratic rights. Both engage in aggressive cruelty and hateful persecution. In Germany, it was the suppression and eventual annihilation of ordinary, lesser, people; in Afghanistan, it is the expulsion of all western influence, the repression of its people, and the ultimate extinction of all infidels. Nazi dogma pursued racial purity wanting to create an Aryan nation; the Taliban pursue extreme religious fundamentalism through ill-conceived, adulterated, adherence to their beliefs.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars, yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.”
In an ideal world “an end to the beginning of all wars” might be conceivable. In an ideal world, the brutality and inhumanity that people suffer would become non-existent. In an ideal world, we might be standing here today celebrating the memories of our heroes, our loves ones, because their passing would have come about without their having had to sacrifice their lives for us. Unfortunately, we have to yet to achieve an idyllic existence.
Fortunately, you and I, our fellow countrymen, and untold others, have ideals that thrive on freedom, equality, tolerance and so much more. And because our beliefs, our laws, are inherently just and good, we are prepared to sacrifice our lives for them, for our countries, for our children. Ernest Hemingway said, “Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.”
The precious lives and the memory of our soldiers, who lie here and elsewhere, will always be a testament to the sacrifices they made and to the freedoms which we enjoy. Standing here today with you, I bow my head in reverence, I close my eyes in solitude, and I listen to the gentle tears we shed in remembering and celebrating our soldiers, our heroes.
Arthur Ashe said, “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” We stand before and among our soldiers today; and, with deference and pride we salute their memory, their lives, their heroism.
Thank you all for being here today and sharing in this time-honored tradition.