English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama Speaks at Flanders Field Cemetery.webm

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,430
The President: Your
Majesty King Philippe,

2
00:00:04,433 --> 00:00:07,503
Prime Minister Di Rupo,
I'm honored

3
00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:08,500
to be here today.

4
00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:12,930
Thank you for welcoming
me to this sacred place.

5
00:00:14,300 --> 00:00:16,870
To the staff of Flanders
Field Cemetery

6
00:00:16,867 --> 00:00:19,767
and the people of Belgium, thank
you for your devotion,

7
00:00:21,233 --> 00:00:24,403
watching over those who
rest here and preserving

8
00:00:25,166 --> 00:00:27,966
these hallowed grounds
for all of us who

9
00:00:27,967 --> 00:00:30,597
live in their debt.

10
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,470
As His Majesty and the
Prime Minister mentioned,

11
00:00:33,467 --> 00:00:35,167
we just spent some quiet
moments among

12
00:00:35,166 --> 00:00:38,796
the final resting places of
young men who fell nearly

13
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:40,830
a century ago.

14
00:00:40,834 --> 00:00:43,604
And it is impossible not
to be awed

15
00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,330
by the profound sacrifice they
made so that we might

16
00:00:47,333 --> 00:00:49,703
stand here today.

17
00:00:49,700 --> 00:00:54,230
In this place, we remember
the courage of "Brave

18
00:00:54,233 --> 00:00:56,363
Little Belgium."

19
00:00:56,367 --> 00:00:59,037
Here, we visited the
grave of a young Polish

20
00:00:59,033 --> 00:01:03,163
immigrant to America who
just a few hours

21
00:01:03,166 --> 00:01:06,196
into his very first battle gave
his life

22
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,470
for his adopted country.

23
00:01:08,467 --> 00:01:10,237
And here, we saw the
headstones of two men

24
00:01:10,233 --> 00:01:13,163
from Brooklyn, New York, who
lay as they fought --

25
00:01:13,166 --> 00:01:15,766
side-by-side.

26
00:01:15,767 --> 00:01:18,337
Here, we also see that no
soldier --

27
00:01:18,333 --> 00:01:22,063
and no nation -- sacrificed alone.

28
00:01:22,066 --> 00:01:24,236
I'm told that this is
one of more

29
00:01:24,233 --> 00:01:28,133
than 100 cemeteries tucked into
the quiet corners

30
00:01:28,133 --> 00:01:31,033
of this beautiful countryside.

31
00:01:31,033 --> 00:01:32,933
It's estimated that
beneath about

32
00:01:32,934 --> 00:01:38,734
50 square miles there rest
hundreds of thousands of men --

33
00:01:38,734 --> 00:01:42,834
Belgian and American,
French and Canadian,

34
00:01:42,834 --> 00:01:45,264
British and Australian,
and so many others.

35
00:01:45,266 --> 00:01:48,566
We talked about how many
of the Americans

36
00:01:48,567 --> 00:01:50,967
who fought on Belgian soil
during the Great War

37
00:01:50,967 --> 00:01:53,867
did so under the command
of His Majesty's

38
00:01:53,867 --> 00:01:56,437
great-grandfather,
King Albert.

39
00:01:56,433 --> 00:01:57,933
And while they didn't
always share a common

40
00:01:57,934 --> 00:02:02,264
heritage or even a common
language, the soldiers

41
00:02:02,266 --> 00:02:06,236
who manned the trenches were
united by something larger

42
00:02:06,233 --> 00:02:09,433
-- a willingness to fight,
and die, for the freedom

43
00:02:09,433 --> 00:02:13,633
that we enjoy
as their heirs.

44
00:02:13,633 --> 00:02:16,163
Long after those guns fell
silent,

45
00:02:16,166 --> 00:02:18,436
this bond has endured.

46
00:02:18,433 --> 00:02:19,763
Belgians and
Americans have stood

47
00:02:19,767 --> 00:02:23,667
shoulder-to-shoulder with
our European allies

48
00:02:23,667 --> 00:02:27,767
in World War II and through a
long Cold War,

49
00:02:27,767 --> 00:02:30,097
then from Afghanistan to Libya.

50
00:02:30,100 --> 00:02:33,830
And today, Belgium is one
of our closest partners

51
00:02:33,834 --> 00:02:37,564
in the world -- a strong
and capable ally.

52
00:02:37,567 --> 00:02:39,837
And thanks to the
extraordinary alliance

53
00:02:39,834 --> 00:02:42,564
between our two nations,
we know a level of peace

54
00:02:42,567 --> 00:02:46,697
and prosperity that those
who fought here could

55
00:02:46,700 --> 00:02:49,230
scarcely have imagined.

56
00:02:49,233 --> 00:02:52,533
And so before visiting the
cemetery, His Majesty,

57
00:02:52,533 --> 00:02:54,503
the Prime Minister and I were
able to spend

58
00:02:54,500 --> 00:02:55,630
some time together.

59
00:02:55,633 --> 00:02:58,463
I was very grateful
for the opportunity.

60
00:02:58,467 --> 00:03:00,667
It was a chance to
reaffirm our commitment

61
00:03:00,667 --> 00:03:05,167
to keep as strong as they've
ever been the bonds

62
00:03:05,166 --> 00:03:08,966
between our nations -- a
determination that I know

63
00:03:08,967 --> 00:03:13,467
is shared by the American
and Belgian people.

64
00:03:13,467 --> 00:03:15,497
Here today, I'd also note
that the lessons

65
00:03:15,500 --> 00:03:18,800
of that war speak to us still.

66
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:20,630
Our nations are part of
the international effort

67
00:03:20,633 --> 00:03:23,663
to destroy Syria's
chemical weapons --

68
00:03:23,667 --> 00:03:26,597
the same kinds of weapons
that were used to such

69
00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,670
devastating effect on
these very fields.

70
00:03:30,667 --> 00:03:32,897
We thought we had banished
their use to history,

71
00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:35,700
and our efforts send a
powerful message

72
00:03:35,700 --> 00:03:37,630
that these weapons have no
place

73
00:03:37,633 --> 00:03:38,633
in a civilized world.

74
00:03:38,633 --> 00:03:41,433
This is one of the ways
that we can honor

75
00:03:41,433 --> 00:03:44,133
those who fell here.

76
00:03:44,133 --> 00:03:47,433
And so this visit, this
hallowed ground,

77
00:03:47,433 --> 00:03:50,433
reminds us that we must never,
ever take

78
00:03:50,433 --> 00:03:52,963
our progress for granted.

79
00:03:52,967 --> 00:03:57,137
We must commit perennially
to peace,

80
00:03:57,133 --> 00:03:59,133
which binds us across oceans.

81
00:04:00,967 --> 00:04:06,137
In 1915, a Canadian doctor
named John McCrae

82
00:04:06,133 --> 00:04:08,763
sat in the back of an ambulance
not far from here,

83
00:04:08,767 --> 00:04:13,067
and wrote a poem about the
heavy sacrifice

84
00:04:13,066 --> 00:04:14,866
he had seen.

85
00:04:14,867 --> 00:04:16,967
They became some of
the most cherished

86
00:04:16,967 --> 00:04:18,967
and well-known words
from that war.

87
00:04:18,967 --> 00:04:24,997
And they ended with a
plea: To you from

88
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:32,230
failing hands we throw The torch;
be yours to hold it high.

89
00:04:32,233 --> 00:04:35,863
If ye break faith with
us who die We shall

90
00:04:35,867 --> 00:04:42,937
not sleep, though poppies
grow In Flanders fields.

91
00:04:42,934 --> 00:04:45,134
What is lesser known is
that three years after

92
00:04:45,133 --> 00:04:48,463
he wrote those words -- and
thousands of miles away --

93
00:04:48,467 --> 00:04:52,137
an American schoolteacher
named Moina Michael

94
00:04:52,133 --> 00:04:53,963
read McCrae's poem.

95
00:04:53,967 --> 00:04:58,037
And she was so moved that
she wrote a response:

96
00:04:58,033 --> 00:05:03,963
Oh! you who sleep in "Flanders
Fields," Sleep sweet

97
00:05:03,967 --> 00:05:05,967
-- to rise anew!

98
00:05:05,967 --> 00:05:09,337
We caught the torch you
threw And holding high,

99
00:05:09,333 --> 00:05:12,203
we keep the Faith
With All who died.

100
00:05:14,533 --> 00:05:18,363
Your Majesty, Mr. Prime
Minister, thank you again.

101
00:05:18,367 --> 00:05:21,367
What I've seen at Flanders
Field will

102
00:05:21,367 --> 00:05:23,737
stay with me always.

103
00:05:23,734 --> 00:05:26,864
To all who sleep here,
we can say we caught the

104
00:05:26,867 --> 00:05:31,667
torch, we kept the faith,
and Americans and Belgians

105
00:05:31,667 --> 00:05:36,597
will always stand together
for freedom, for dignity,

106
00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,270
and for the triumph
of the human spirit.

107
00:05:40,266 --> 00:05:41,266
May God bless you.

108
00:05:41,266 --> 00:05:42,696
May God bless the memory

109
00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:45,070
of all who rest beneath these fields.

110
00:05:45,066 --> 00:05:46,296
And may God bless the
peoples

111
00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:47,630
of both our nations.