Speech | 29-06-2024
Veterans, women and gents,
At the moment we rejoice Veterans Day for the 20 th time. Since 2005 I’ve been in a position to expertise all editions. I stand right here with gratitude. What I hoped for has turn out to be actuality. Veterans Day has turn out to be ‘established’. The Netherlands has embraced at the present time as an annual nationwide second on which we honor our veterans collectively.
A day of recognition to your dedication to peace and safety and to the worldwide rule of regulation.
And a day of recognition. As a result of every of you has a private story, based mostly by yourself experiences and feelings. Your satisfaction and your doubts. Your power and your vulnerability. Your camaraderie. They make you individuals of flesh and blood. And so they make your world of expertise tangible to everybody who’s open to it.
The conferences with you’re particularly pricey to me. And never solely on Veterans Day.
Since my service within the Royal Navy, the direct reference to all elements of our armed forces has been a typical thread in my life. We’ve got seen and spoken to one another. Throughout Desert Storm, within the Gulf. In Srebrenica, throughout the blockade by the Serbs. On the UN mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia. A number of occasions in Uruzgan, Kabul and Kandahar. Off the coast of Somalia, on Hr.Ms. Rotterdam and Hr.Ms. Evertsen. At Camp Castor in Mali. On the Snow Metropolis base in Jordan. And in so many different locations.
Throughout all these conferences I listened fastidiously to you.
What’s putting time and again is your aversion to boasting. Many troopers are individuals of few phrases. Particularly troopers in supporting capabilities ‘contained in the gate’ are sometimes inclined to downplay the significance of their efforts. In case you are a medic on the compound disinfecting medical gear… or as a upkeep technician repairing an armored car… or as an ICT individual supporting the logistical planning… then you’re “simply doing all your job”, proper?
A small cog within the large image? Possibly. However as a pilot I do know there are not any “insignificant cogs.”
The protection of your complete gadget is determined by the smallest elements and their interconnections.
One other factor that strikes me again and again is that you simply do your work based mostly on private conviction, with nice dedication and sometimes even idealism.
What you see and expertise throughout your missions tells you what is at stake.
You recognize the fixed concern of the inhabitants in armed conflicts. You recognize what risk and destruction do to individuals.
You’ve got seen the desperation when the justice system fails and energy degenerates into terror.
I bear in mind a sergeant I met in Chora, on his third deployment to Afghanistan. He informed me what motivated him. “This nation is so extremely stunning,” he stated. “My purpose is achieved when it’s so secure and peaceable right here that I can take my household on trip and present them how stunning it’s.”
Sadly, his want didn’t turn out to be actuality, as everyone knows.
And but I bear in mind his phrases. Due to course he was not involved together with his personal vacation pleasure. He was involved with the values and achievements which are crucial for a cheerful life with out concern. With freedom. Justice. Peace. Safety. Growth alternatives.
Anybody who considers these values and achievements essential for themselves should dare to suppose internationally. In spite of everything, what occurs elsewhere on this planet additionally impacts us, ultimately. Globally, all cogs are related…
Not each mission has the hoped-for consequence. If the purpose will not be achieved, it stays a poignant reminiscence for all concerned.
Working for peace and safety might be exhausting. Bodily and mentally. Lots of you in the present day are considering of the comrades you’ve misplaced, of those that have been wounded, or of the individuals you’ve needed to depart behind.
However regardless of the disappointments, the trouble and the ache, your efforts are of important worth.
Anybody who doubts this could check out our personal historical past.
In two and a half months we’ll rejoice in Mesch, South Limburg, that eighty years in the past our allies managed to recapture the very first piece of the Netherlands. The start of a hard-fought liberation after greater than 4 years of horror.
Worldwide solidarity laid the muse for our freedom, our safety and our rule of regulation. We’ll always remember that.
Defending freedom means: taking accountability, additionally past our nationwide borders.
As veterans, you stand in that proud custom. And as veterans, you might count on – and even demand – that each one establishments in our nation do the whole lot they’ll to safeguard peace, safety, human rights and the democratic rule of regulation to your kids and grandchildren.
It’s good to see that many individuals – together with younger individuals – really feel touched by the work of Protection.
Within the listing of Most Favourite Employers within the Netherlands, Protection has now climbed to 3rd place. To offer you an concept: that’s above Google, KLM and ASML! Nonetheless not a foul consequence.
There may be power in you as a veteran neighborhood. Additionally in these of you who’re marked by intense experiences and who’re dedicated to serving to comrades in related circumstances.
I’ve the best respect for all of you. And I additionally embody your households; the indispensable dwelling entrance.
The Netherlands honors its veterans. At the moment, June 29, we’ll present this explicitly, in a festive method, for the 20 th time. However so far as I am involved, Veteran’s Day is daily of the 12 months.
