Angie Craig: “50 years ago, U.S. forces, along with those of our valiant and embattled allies, formally ended the victorious struggle…”

“50 years ago, U.S. forces, along with those of our valiant and embattled allies, formally ended the victorious struggle to contain a horrific evil that had spread across the European continent. For those Americans who attended the ceremonies that marked the Nazi surrender, it was a solemn moment, for the struggle had been long and bloody, and the price to defend freedom had come at a very high cost. For the world there was joy, renewed hope of lasting peace, and resolve to protect the freedom for which so many had offered up their lives. Today many of those hopes which are held deeply in the hearts of the veterans who served, their families, and a generation of Americans who lived through the war, have become a reality. For Americans too young to remember the war and those born into this world in its aftermath, we have a special obligation this day to our parents, our grandparents, and to our children and future generations of Americans; 50 years from today most of those who remember the war will no longer be with us. It is, therefore, our responsibility to learn about what happened, and why it happened. We must ask those who fought in World War II what it was all about. We must remember the sufferings and the sacrifice, lest we become complacent with our freedom and suffer the consequences. We must all, every one of us, learn from our own history.”