CHAIRMAN CRAIG TO LEAD SENATORS TO NORMANDY FOR MEMORIAL DAY, JOINED BY VA SECRETARY -- Group will tour cemeteries and monuments in Europe and North Africa

May 23, 2006
Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202) 224-9093

(Washington, DC) U.S. Senator Larry Craig, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, will lead a delegation of U.S. Senators on a tour of military cemeteries in Europe and North Africa starting Saturday, May 27.  Joining them will be VA Secretary Jim Nicholson.

On Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, the group will visit Omaha Beach in France and lay a wreath in honor of the over 10,000 American servicemen who gave their lives at Normandy.  The delegation will also examine the Pointe du Hoc monument that was erected by the French to honor the American 2nd Ranger Battalion which, in 1944, scaled a 100 foot cliff to take out German gun emplacements.

"My committee has jurisdiction over the cemeteries which serve as the final resting places of many of our nation's heroes. I feel it is important that we see first hand the condition of those facilities and pay our respects to those who gave all," Sen. Craig said.

Those traveling in the delegation include U.S. Senators Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Arlen Specter  (R-Pennsylvania), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) – all members of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.  They will be joined by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson, and Brigadier General John W. Nicholson, Ret., Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission.

(All times local -- each location is 6 hours ahead of U.S. East Coast time.) 

Saturday May 27 10:00 Ardennes American Cemetery            Belgium

-- This cemetery contains the graves of 5,329 of our military dead, many of whom died in the "Battle of the Bulge." Chairman Craig to deliver remarks along with U.S. Ambassador Tom Korologos.

Saturday May 27 4:00 Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery     Belgium

-- This cemetery contains the graves of 7,992 Americans, of those are 106 unknowns. In no less than 40 instances two brothers lie buried side by side. Chairman Craig to deliver remarks

Sunday May 28 3:00 Netherlands American Cemetery             Netherlands

-- This cemetery contains the graves of 8,301 American military dead. Chairman Craig to deliver remarks.

Monday May 29 11:00 Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument          France

2:00 Normandy American Cemetery 

-- This cemetery contains the graves of 9,387 American military dead. Also listed are the names of 1,557 missing who gave their lives, but whose remains were not located or identified. Delegation to lay wreath.

Tuesday May 30 10:45 Suresnes American Cemetery              France

-- Originally a WWI cemetery, it contains the graves of 1,541 Americans from World War I and twenty-four graves of American unknown dead from World War II.

Wednesday May 31 10:30 Belleau Wood Memorial                  France

-- Memorial commemorates the WWI Battle of Belleau Wood, which stemmed the tide of the German attack.  In 1918, U.S. Marine Corps casualties were then the highest in Marine Corps history – 9,777 casualties, of which 1,811 were fatal.

Thursday June 2 9:00 North Africa American Cemetery           Tunisia

-- The World War II North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial is located near the site of the ancient city of Carthage, which was destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C. At this cemetery rest 2,841 American military dead who gave their lives during WWII. It is the only U.S. military cemetery on the African continent.

Larry Scott