Blog Posts tagged with "Italy"

Here we are in the middle of what I believe is the most important week of the year for U.S. European Command.  On one end, a long weekend recently completed in honor of Memorial Day.  On the other end of this important stretch of days - D-Day.

Second from left, Lt. Gen. Gardner during ceremony in Cambridge, England

If you follow EUCOM on Twitter or Facebook or our EUCOM website, then you've probably seen the recent Memorial Day coverage that had over half of our public affairs office spread out over the weekend to cover some of the 22 ceremonies that took place throughout Europe.  We created a page for all of the collected efforts so you could get live updates as they happened.

As the live pictures, videos and messages came in from different locations, it gave me an even greater appreciation for the sacrifice made by more than 104,000 U.S. service men and women buried at 20 American cemeteries throughout Europe with an additional 20 thousand missing servicemembers listed on the memorial walls.  No longer were they just locations I knew of.  No longer just a holiday.

They were where our EUCOM Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. John Gardner had traveled to at the American Cemetery in Cambridge, England to pay his respects and give remarks during their ceremony.

Brig Gen Scraba gives remarks in Florence

Or Brig. Gen. Mark Scraba, Deputy Director for EUCOM J5 Plans and Policies-International Military Partnering, whom I traveled with to the American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Italy to pay respects to the over four thousand of our military dead.

The general said something during his remarks that really stuck with me.  He said, "The heroes buried here in Florence were ordinary men and women who rose to meet seemingly impossible odds and did extraordinary things.  These brave men and women left the safety of their sovereign soil to defeat tyrants, ensure justice and fulfill the promise of safety and security for our US citizens and all the citizens of Europe.  Their lives were dedicated not to conflict or death, but to compassion, to freedom and to life."

The American Battle Monuments Commission does an extraordinary job maintaining these cemeteries located in Europe.  With so many things in life where the pictures are way more impressive than the real deal, the opposite is true with these memorials.  As my local commuter bus dropped me off seven kilometers outside of Florence and at the front of the site on an early Memorial Day morning, pictures fail to serve the beautiful and immaculately kept grounds.  As the morning led to the mid-day ceremony, the grounds filled with U.S. and Italian active duty and veterans, local townspeople and visiting Americans standing side by side as they did across all the ceremonies in six different European countries.

The images and words still resonate with me back at the office.  But this week isn't over.

Tomorrow begins four days of D-Day events that are taking place in the Normandy region of France.  US, UK, French and German military members will take part in a number of ceremonies with the local French people in small towns and on the beaches of the region that commemorate over 100,000 Allied troops that took part that day and those that paid the ultimate sacrifice.  I was the public affairs officer last year for the 66th anniversary of D-Day events and it remains the most memorable time of my duty in Europe.

US Army Airborne pin their wings on their French counterparts during D-Day ceremony last year.

Some of that coverage (blogs, photos and videos) is currently on the D-Day section of our website and additional coverage on my site.  Kelli Bland, our outreach officer, will be covering D-Day events for this 67th anniversary, so check back to our D-Day page and social media accounts for updates.  Our social media team plays an important part of that coverage.

Memorial Day events and annual D-Day commemorations that occur during a year that doesn't end in a zero or five hardly gain any media attention, but that doesn't make it any less important to EUCOM.  It doesn't mean the events are supported any less than any other year because these historical dates and their significance are ever present to help act as a foundation for who we are as a command and our strong partnerships with our partner nations in Europe.  Social media coverage from our office helps to show that commitment.

Aristotle said, "If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development."  EUCOM continues to remember and honor the beginning of our military service members' sacrifice in Europe that has developed into the current strong partnerships we share in the region.  In my opinion, that makes this an important week for our approximately 90,000 US military members serving in Europe to always remember.  Join us!

Lt. Cmdr. Taylor Clark, U.S. Navy
Social Media Chief, U.S. European Command