Features

Ramstein-Miesenbach hosts National Day of Mourning ceremony

Story and photos by Senior Airman Thomas Karol
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
November 25, 2022
Leadership members from around the Kaiserslautern Military Community pose for a photo in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Nov. 13, 2022. The 33rd Sunday of the year or two Sundays before advent is recognized as the National Day of Mourning in Germany where people come together and remember all those who were lost during war and other tragedies across the world. (Courtesy photo)

Leaders from Ramstein Air Base, attended a National Day of Mourning ceremony hosted by the Union Community of Ramstein-Miesenbach, Nov. 13, at St. Nikolaus Church in Ramstein-Miesenbach.

U.S. Air Force Col. Matthew Bartlett, 435th Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander, attended on behalf of RAB along with other leadership teams from the Kaiserslautern Military Community, German first responders, and members from the local community.

U.S. Air Force Col. Matthew Bartlett, 435th Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander, and members from the 86th Airlift Wing Honor Guard stand in front of a memorial in the Union Community of Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany Nov. 13, 2022 during a National Day of Mourning ceremony. Bartlett represented Ramstein at the ceremony, which honors those who have perished in wars from all nations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Thomas Karol)

“It is important we come together as nations to honor and remember those who have fallen from war and tragedies in the past,” Bartlett said. “We honor them now as partners from many countries who are seeking peace and trying to prevent conflicts such as the ones the world has already witnessed.”

The National Day of Mourning, also known as Volkstrauertag, is a silent tribune to commemorate service members and civilians from all nations who have lost their lives in war and victims of violent oppression. This ceremony, which is one of many held across Germany, has occurred every year since 1952 two Sundays before the first Sunday of Advent.

Members of the German luftwaffe carry a wreath at the National Day of Mourning ceremony in the Union Community of Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, Nov. 13, 2022. Twenty one nations from NATO attended the National Day of Mourning Ceremony to commemorate all those who lost their lives in war and violent oppression, and show signs of friendship and healing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Thomas Karol)

“This commemoration is a critically important sign of friendship and reconciliation,” said Ralf Hechler, Union Community of Ramstein-Miesenbach mayor. “The common remembrance and the common mourning is the foundation for a peaceful future.”

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