Toespraak van minister Hennis-Plasschaert bij de ontvangst van de D-Day vlag

Toespraak | 16-09-2016

Excellency, Honoured  veterans, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour to receive this flag today. And I am humbled by the thought that this Star-Spangled Banner was the very first flag heading for the Normandy beaches on D-Day, flying on top of the LCC60, the landing craft control boat of Howard Vander Beek and his men.

And as a tribute to Howard, and all those courageous men who fought for freedom on D-Day, I will tell part of his story.

Ladies and gentlemen,

72 years ago, more than 150,000 soldiers set off towards the coast of Normandy.  On June 6, 1944.
D-Day, the beginning of Operation Overlord. In the annals of history, the world had never seen anything like this.

Commanders pored over maps, fully aware that, despite all those months of meticulous planning and rigorous training, anything could go wrong: the winds, the tides, the element of surprise. Above all, they understood that the success of the operation would depend on men who would not shrink away, but who would charge ahead in spite of everything they would encounter on the other side of the Channel.

One of these men was Howard Vander Beek. Born in Iowa. Son of a Dutch immigrant. In 2 days, he would turn 27 years old. As a lieutenant, he was the skipper of a landing craft control boat. The LCC60.

While he was in secret briefings and memorizing the shape of the shoreline at his planned landing site at Utah Beach, Howard met and befriended General Teddy Roosevelt Jr., the son of President Theodore Roosevelt himself. Roosevelt Jr. offered words of encouragement prior to Howard's D-Day mission.Howard described it like this: 'I was standing looking out over the English Channel and suddenly someone slapped me on my back. This voice said, 'My boy, my life will be in your hands'.'

As commander of a landing craft control boat, Howard's task was to find and lead the landing craft forces to the beach, along safe routes that had been cleared of mines and obstacles.

About the moment when the landing crafts - packed with soldiers – were waiting to join up for the run onto the beach, Howard said: 'We felt naked, defenseless. Although hundreds of friendly guns on U.S. battleships, cruisers and destroyers behind us were poised and silent, ready to begin their onslaught… there were Wehrmacht batteries ahead, waiting for enough light to fire.'

The sight of the largest invasion fleet in human history remains just as sharp in Howard's memory. 'The immensity of it,' he said. 'The unreality of the reality. I couldn't believe I was really there.'

But it was real. With the LCC60, at 06:30 – H-Hour of the invasion of Normandy – he led the very first wave of landing craft toward the beach, carrying tanks and seasick soldiers.

At that point, LCC60 was the only control boat at the scene. The others didn't make it.That meant that Howard and his crew were responsible for the safe navigation of the entire landing fleet off Utah beach.

The timetable for the Utah landing was under pressure because of bad weather. LCC60 was able to make up the lost time, by bringing the landing craft with tanks almost 2 kilometres closer to Utah than instructed in the plan of operations. As a consequence of this courageous decision, the Utah landings were able to proceed smoothly.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It was on those beaches, that 72 years ago, the very first steps towards regaining our freedom were taken. 'Normandy was democracy’'s beachhead,'  as President Obama said on the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Despite Howard’s leadership on D-Day, he maintains he was not a hero in the war. 'I was just such a small part of it,' he said. 'There were so many giving up their lives. Those are the true heroes.'

But for me, he certainly was a hero, just as much as all the others!

The road was long and the price was immeasurably high. Every last yard was fought for. Men like Howard fought for our freedom and made huge sacrifices. They waged war so that we could live in peace.

This flag was in Howard’s home for 60 years. Today, it is in a country where people would not be living in freedom if he had not fought for it. And for me – as for all of us – it is very special to see this piece of history here in Soesterberg. Bought by Mr Kreuk and given on loan to the National Military Museum.

Mr Kreuk,

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this remarkable gesture. We know that this flag was an emotional purchase for you. During the auction, you thought about the sacrifices those people made and money wasn’t important at that moment, because as you said, 'you can’t put a price on freedom.'

It is your ambition to exhibit the flag in museums all over the world, to underline that freedom should never be taken for granted.
 

Ladies and gentlemen,

That message is one I share wholeheartedly. Indeed, the story of this flag, helps to remind us that our freedom can never be taken for granted. Not back then, not now and not in the future.

In order to meet current and emerging threats in a rapidly changing world, unity within the alliance of democracies is crucial. We cannot afford to be driven apart. The fact is that, if our democracies do not take the initiative, others will take the helm of international events.

So  together we have to do our utmost to uphold in our own lives the values that the heroes of D-Day were prepared to die for. We need to be worthy of the freedom that was given to us. Over and over again.

I consider it a great privilege to be able to walk down the path of freedom – a path forged by the efforts of the Second World War veterans.  Each and every day, we must make a resolute choice for that path of freedom!

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a true privilege for me to hand over the flag to the director of our National Military Museum, Mrs. Saam.

Thank you.