Dutch prime minister thanks American liberators

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

MARGRATEN, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has paid tribute at a Memorial Day ceremony to U.S. troops who fought and died liberating the Netherlands from Nazi occupation in World War II.

Thousands of people sat under blue skies and wispy white clouds for Sunday's ceremony at the American cemetery in Margraten that covers 65.5 acres and contains 8,301 headstones.

The cemetery is on land close to the Dutch border with Germany that was liberated from Nazi occupation on Sept. 13, 1944 by the U.S. 30th Infantry Division. A day later, nearby Maastricht became the first Dutch city liberated.

Rutte said the people of the Netherlands pay tribute to their liberators "for enabling us to stand here today in freedom, and we bow our heads in memory of the fallen."

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0fcba43a37f0485b927d2eefca0d64e6/dutch-prime-minister-thanks-american-liberators

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. Wonderful to read. There is something very special about mourning the dead, especially 'grunts'

and the like, slain on the field of battle, in a war against an oppressor. Quite moving to read.

But whatever the cause, the family will want to mourn their loved one, who, in the final analysis would have been a play-thing of wicked, old war profiteers.

It seems a mark of lingering civilisation on the part of the Dutch and the French, who keep up their commemorations of fallen Allied servicemen, tending the vast cemeteries; whereas in the UK, cemeteries and war memorials are more likely to be desecrated by disaffected youths, with scant hope of a future for them on current political trends.

[Ford_Prefect]

2. My Dad among many others from the 104th infantry helped in this liberation.

[okaawhatever]

6. You must be really proud. Good for him nt

[Larry Engels]

3. US troops really were "liberators" in WWII.

The meaning of the word has been desecrated by its use to refer to US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Elwood P Dowd]

4. Maybe they can repay the favor by one day helping liberate us from the republican fascists. (nm)

[pampango]

5. Great idea, Elwood. Older Dutch and other Europeans must wonder what happened to FDR's America.

FDR's America of high taxes, strong unions, a safety net and middle class health has survived in Europe while disappearing in the U.S.

I hope the Dutch and others can one day return the favor. 😊

[Nye Bevan]

7. Comparing the Nazi occupation of Europe to Americans electing a Republican Senate

is a little offensive IMO. Anyone who thinks that the experience of Europe under Nazi occupation is comparable to that of Americans today needs some history lessons.