CAPTAIN HODGE WHARF--Men with last names like Muller, Martina, Richardson and Thode that resonate throughout the Dutch Caribbean were especially reflected on for their ultimate sacrifice for peace in World War II, as the islands marked Remembrance Day, Friday, together with the rest of the kingdom.
Wreaths were laid at the War Monument on Captain Hodge Wharf by Governor Eugene Holiday, President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell and Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams in the early morning ceremony.
A small contingent of police and Voluntary Corps St. Maarten officers formed the honour guard as Dutch and St. Maarten flags were hoisted by Police Constables S. Doran and S. van Bosse to the flagpoles' finial and then back to half-mast. Holiday had inspected the honour guard prior to the hoisting of the flags.
Father Bob Johnson, in his prayer, said that the men had "given their lives in seeking out peace" in the service of their country. Police Major W. Phelipa played the trumpet followed by a minute of silence which brought the ceremony to a close.
The flags at the Government Administration Building were also flown at half- mast on Friday.
Remembrance of the Dead (Dutch: Dodenherdenking) is observed annually on May 4, in the Kingdom. It is in honour of all civilians and members of the armed forces of the Kingdom who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the start of World War II.
Up to 1961, the commemoration only related to the Dutch victims of World War II; but since then, the victims of other military conflicts, such as the Indonesian National Revolution in Indonesia and peacekeeping missions as in Lebanon or Bosnia, are also remembered on May 4.
Since1994 the flags, having hung at half-mast from 6:00pm onwards, are then hoisted to the music of the "Wilhelmus" the Dutch national anthem; from 2001, the new protocol states it is correct to let the flags hang at half-mast.
Today, May 5, the Dutch people celebrate the liberation of The Netherlands from the German occupation of 1940 to 1945.
Boxing Marcus Bent Alexander McCall Smith Carlos Tevez New Castle United Tromso
No comments:
Post a Comment