 We do not know. Many, however, we know from the dates on their tombstones were only Bitburg Cemetery. We commemorated the potential good and humanity that was consumed back then, 40 years ago. We celebrate today the reconciliation between our two nations that has liberated us from that cycle of destruction. Look at what together we've accomplished. As the mayor of Bitburg has said in that time, there have been some 6,000 marriages between Germans and Americans. And many thousands of children have come from these unions. This is the real symbol of our future together. A future to be filled with hope, friendship, and freedom. The hope that we see now could sometimes even be glimpsed in the darkest days of the war. I'm thinking of one special story. That of a mother and her young son living alone in a modest cottage in the middle of the woods. And one night as the Battle of the Bulge exploded not far away and around them. Three young American soldiers arrived at their door and standing there in the snow, lost behind enemy lines. All were frostbitten. One was badly wounded. Even though sheltering the enemy was punishable by death, she took them in, made them a supper with some of her last food. Then they heard another knock at the door. And this time four German soldiers stood there. The woman was afraid, but she quickly said with a firm voice, there would be no shooting here. She'd meet all the soldiers, lay down their weapons, and they all joined in the makeshift meet. Pines and willy had turned out were only 16. The corporal was the oldest, 33. Their natural suspicion dissolved in the warmth and the comfort of the cottage. One of the Germans, a former medical student, attended the wounded American. But now listen to the rest of the story through the eyes of one who was there. Now a grown man, but that young lad that had been her son. He said, the mother said grace. I noticed that there were tears in her eyes. She said the old, familiar words. Come, Herr Jesus, be our guest. And as I looked around the table, I saw tears, too, in the eyes of the battle-grooming soldiers. Boys again, some from America, some from Germany, all far from home. That night, as the storm of war tossed the world, they had their own private armistice. The next morning, the German corporal showed the Americans how to get back behind their own lines. And they all shook hands and went their separate ways. That happened to be Christmas Day 40 years ago. Those boys reconciled briefly in the midst of war. Surely we allies in peacetime should honor the reconciliation of the last 40 years. To the people of Bidberg, our hosts and the hosts of our servicemen, like that generous woman 40 years ago, you make us feel very welcome. Veel en dank. And to the men and women of Bidberg Air Base, I just want to say that we know that even with such wonderful hosts, your job is not an easy one. You serve around the clock far from home, always ready to defend freedom. We're grateful and we're very... This country and every country live in the sunshine of liberty. Our victory was great and the Federal Republic, Italy and Japan are now in the community of free nations. Paul, and proclaimed that he too, was a Berlinite. But today, freedom-loving people around the world must say, I am a Jew in a world still threatened by antisemitism. I am an Afghan. And I am a prisoner of the Gulag. I am a refugee in a crowded boat foundering off the coast of Vietnam. I am a Laos, a Cambodian, a Cuban, liberty to protect life and to honor and cherish all God's children. That is why the free Democratic Federal Republic of Germany times and wars of yesterday and are called back the millions back to life. But on this 40th anniversary of World War II, we mark the day when the hate, the evil and the obscenities ended, and we commemorate the rekindling of the American band playing the German national anthem. While much of the world still huddles in the darkness of oppression, we can see a new dawn of freedom sweeping the globe, and we can see in the new democracies of Latin America in the new economic freedoms and prosperity in Asia, in the slow movement toward peace in the Middle East, and in the strengthening alliance of democratic... Let us live in peace. Thank you, and God bless you all.