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Mexico City, May 28, 2007 – “In honoring the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen lost throughout the history of the United States, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the democratic ideals they fought and preserved. There have been times, some distant and some not so distant, when the nations represented here were in conflict with each other. And yet, here we sit in this beautiful garden and cemetery – as friends and allies. We agree that democracy is better than tyranny, that rule of law is better than despotism, that individual rights are better than mob rule. Ultimately, we know that those ideals cherished by democracies – freedom of expression, worship – only happen through service and sacrifice,” said U.S. Ambassador Antonio O. Garza, Jr.
Speaking at the annual Memorial Day ceremony held today at the Mexico City National Cemetery, Ambassador Garza urged Americans to remember those who gave their lives for the freedoms all Americans hold dear.
Memorial Day in the United States was officially proclaimed by General John Logan on May 5, 1868, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when troops placed flowers on the graves of fallen Union and Confederate soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. It is observed annually throughout the United States on the last Monday in May.
Please see the Ambassador’s full remarks below:
Ambassador Garza’s Remarks: “Honoring Those Who Went Before”
Memorial Day Ceremony
28 May 2007
Thank you all for inviting me here. In particular, my thanks go to Captain John Sheehan, the Reverend-Doctor Douglas Beyer, Commander John Lambuth, Colonel Daniel Barreto, Liutenant Colonel Alejandro Rodriguez, and James Taylor of American Legion Post 2.
I am very pleased to see members of the United States community here in Mexico City, as well as those who have come from other Diplomatic Missions as we remember those who have paid the ultimate price in service to their country. I am honored to be here among so many friends. Whether in diplomatic or military service, you are all true patriots similar to the people we honor today.
The American tradition of Memorial Day began after the Civil War, a war in which brother fought brother and the best of friends became the worst of enemies. At the end of this war, family members of the many soldiers slain in battle would visit the grave sites of their fallen relatives or friends and decorate their graves with flowers. 140 years after the Civil War, Memorial Day remains a special day for our nation. In honoring the proud Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen lost throughout the history of the United States, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the democratic ideals they fought and preserved.
The Mexico City National Cemetery, established in 1851, is one of 24 American military cemeteries in foreign countries. Of the 1,563 people interred at this cemetery, there are 750 unknown US soldiers from the Mexican-American War, as well as veterans of the American Civil War, the Indian campaigns, and the Spanish-American War.
There have been times, some distant and some not so distant, when the nations represented here were in conflict with each other.
And yet, here we sit in this beautiful garden and cemetery – as friends and allies. We agree that democracy is better than tyranny, that rule of law is better than despotism, that individual rights are better than mob rule. Ultimately, we know that those ideals cherished by democracies – freedom of expression, worship – only happen through service and sacrifice.
I am reminded of another example where nations which had previously engaged in conflict came together to honor those that have fallen. The founder and first president of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, once wrote the following words when referring to patriots from Australia and New Zealand who had lost their lives during the World War I Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey.
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
As part of the international community in Mexico City, I believe that our sons lying in this cemetery are now lying in Mexico’s bosom and are in peace, having become Mexico’s sons as well.
I’ll close as I always do, with a simple prayer, and that is this: May God bless Mexico and the United States, and may He especially bless the U.S. men and women who have died in military service and who we honor on this Memorial Day.
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