Seventeen World War II veterans received honorary commemorative badges on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II from the Minister of Defence Lubomír Metnar. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the award ceremony only took place today.
The commemorative badges are awarded to participants of the national fight for the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazi rule and today, it was awarded to four women and thirteen men. This includes Mr. Tomáš Lom, who served with the No. 311 Squadron RAF, or Ms. Věra Holubeva. She enlisted in January 1944 as Private-Trainee and went on to be one of the youngest participants of the Battle of the Dukla Pass, where she served as a radio operator.
“We have long waited for an opportunity to invite you, the war veterans, to this ceremony so that I could personally award you the honorary commemorative badge which we issued on this occasion,” the Minister of Defence addressed the topic of postponing the ceremony. “The coronavirus is not gone yet, but we manage to keep it at bay, with considerable help from our military professionals. You, as war veterans, as people who did not hesitate to risk their lives for the liberation of our motherland 75 years ago, are their role models. We will be forever grateful to you, for your bravery and patriotism,” the Minister underlined.
The commemorative badges award ceremony was preceded by a remembrance ceremony at the Memorial to the Czechoslovak Foreign Soldiers, Participants in the Second World War. Senior defence officials participated at the ceremony, led by the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff, General Aleš Opata, as well as Ms. Jana Černochová, Chairman of the Committee for Defence of the Chamber of Deputies and Brigadier General Aleš Knížek, Director of the Military History Institute Prague.
Minister of Defence awarded commemorative badges to WWII heroes
Autor: Pavel Křemen