Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202) 224-9093
(Washington, DC) U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, will lead a delegation of U.S. officials to Europe next week to pay respects to fallen American servicemembers buried in France, Luxemburg, and Italy. The group will also visit with wounded U.S. servicemembers being treated at the U.S. military hospital at Landsthul, Germany.
Those traveling with Sen. Craig will include the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Jim Nicholson, U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard and Representative Doug Lamborn, both from Colorado.
On Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, the group will meet with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and, with him, lay wreaths at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.
All of the cemeteries the delegation will visit -- except for the Lafayette Esadrille Memorial -- are operated under the direction of the American Battle Monuments Commission, which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Senate and House Committees on Veterans' Affairs.
Saturday - 28 May - 10:30 a.m.
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Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Paris, France
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Sen. Craig to speak. Participation by Secretary Nicholson and the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley. Delegation to lay wreath in honor of the Americans who flew for France during World War I in the "Lafayette Escadrille." In 1928, the people of France dedicated a memorial and cemetery to the American squadron -- but it has since fallen into disrepair. Congress recently appropriated $2.1 million to fix it up, and the French have contributed $1 million.
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Flyover by the US Air Force "48th Flight Wing" from Lakenheath, UK
Sunday - 27 May - 9:30 a.m.
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Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial Draguignan, France
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Sen. Craig and Sec. Nicholson to speak. Delegation to lay wreath in honor of the 861 Americans buried there, along with 294 who lost their lives but whose bodies were never recovered in the liberation of southern France during World War II.
MEMORIAL DAY - Monday - 28 May 11 a.m.
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Sicily-Rome American Cemetery Nettuno, Italy
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Sen. Craig, Secretary Nicholson, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Phil Greene, Jr, will speak and pay their respects to the nearly 8,000 Americans buried and the more than 3,000 who died but whose bodies were never recovered. The majority of these men died in the liberation of Sicily; in the landings in the Salerno area and landings at Anzio Beach and expansion of the beachhead.
Tuesday - 29 May Rome, Italy
Wednesday - 30 May - 12 p.m.
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Florence American Cemetery and Memorial Florence, Italy
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Delegation to lay wreath and pay respects to the over 4,400 Americans buried and the more than 1,400 Americans who died but whose bodies were never recovered. Most died in the fighting that occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944.
Thursday - 31 May - 11:30 a.m.
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Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial Luxembourg
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Delegation to lay wreath and pay respects to the more than 5,000 Americans buried and the 371 who lost their lives but whose bodies were never recovered, many of those during the famous Battle of the Bulge.
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Landstuhl Army Medical Center Landstuhl, Germany
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Visit with injured troops being treated at the Landstuhl Regional Army Medical Center - which provides care for those seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, before they are sent stateside.
Friday - 1 June
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Ramstein Air Force Base Ramstein, Germany
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Delegation to visit with American troops stationed at Ramstein before returning to the U.S.
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Contact: Jeff Schrade - 202-224-9093
jeff_schrade@vetaff.senate.gov
