Ambassador Hoekstra’s Remarks at the annual Memorial Day ceremony as prepared. Sunday, May 26, 2019 Minister Blok, Governor Bovens, Admiral Ishee, Mayor Akkermans, distinguished veterans, your excellencies, Superintendent Williams, ladies, and gentlemen, it is truly an honor to join you once again, marking the 75th annual Memorial Day ceremony on these hallowed grounds. Everyone here …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 26 May, 2019 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History, News, Speeches | Tags: Margraten, Memorial Day, Netherlands American Cemetery
Issued on: March 1, 2019 During Women’s History Month, we celebrate the countless women whose courage and resolve have contributed to the character and success of our Nation and the entire world. The equal opportunity of women in every facet of daily life is an essential feature of a free and prosperous society. This month, …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 4 March, 2019 | Topics: Events, Featured Event, Gender Issues, History | Tags: Women's History Month
Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner – Remarks by Deputy Chief of Mission Shawn Crowley Hotel Den Haag, Wassenaar, January 27, 2019 Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Roberta, and the members of Overseas Americans Remember for organizing this event, as well as everything else you do to strengthen Dutch-American relations. I would like to …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 28 January, 2019 | Topics: Deputy Chief of Mission, Events, Featured Event, History, Human Rights, News, Speeches, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Martin Luther King Jr.
September 21-23 — Despite heavy rains, thousands showed up to pay their respects this weekend at events in honor of Operation Market Garden. On Friday, Ambassador Hoekstra laid a wreath in Airborneplein in Arnhem to mark the 74th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem and Operation Market Garden. Thousands of Dutch came out to pay their respects …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 23 September, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Operation Market Garden, World War II
September 16 and 17 – U.S. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti joined Ambassador Hoekstra at remembrance ceremonies honoring the events of Operation Market Garden and the liberation of the south of the Netherlands in September 1944. Scaparrotti is the Commander of European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). The two first toured Operation Market Garden …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 18 September, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History | Tags: NATO, Operation Market Garden, WWII
World War II veterans Captain Roy Hanna and Lieutenant Colonel James “Maggie” Megellas visited the Embassy August 30 for a question and answer session with the Embassy staff. This was one of many trips the men have made to the Netherlands, but they focused on the first time they entered the country in September of …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 31 August, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: WWII veterans
August 28, 2018 Today, our Nation commemorates 55 years since the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March for Jobs and Freedom, and spoke passionately for his dream of equality and justice for all. On August 28, 1963, Dr. King addressed a sea of marchers …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 29 August, 2018 | Topics: Events, Featured Event, Fundamental Freedoms, History, President of the United States, Press Releases | Tags: Donald J. Trump, Martin Luther King
On August 6, 2018, Laura and Trudy Roosevelt, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, unveiled a bronze bust of Laura’s grandmother Eleanor Roosevelt in the Abbey of Middelburg to mark the seventieth anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. The province of Zeeland wanted the bust to be placed in the …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 7 August, 2018 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Middelburg, Roosevelt, Zeeland
The annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten is always emotional. The ceremony is held among the names of 10,023 service men and women buried or honored in the cemetery. Those service members died in World War II during the liberation of Europe. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra spoke at the ceremony of …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 29 May, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Memorial Day, Netherlands American Cemetery, WWII
Each Memorial Day weekend, thousands of visitors travel to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten to honor the Americans killed in World War II. On Saturday, American children from the local Boy and Girl Scout troops, as well as other volunteers, spent several hours planting U.S. and Dutch flags on each of the 8,301 graves. …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 26 May, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Margraten, Memorial Day, WWII
On April 26, we concluded a year of programs celebrating the Marshall Plan 70th anniversary with a symposium in Rotterdam at the Hotel New York. On April 26, 1948, the MS Noordam arrived in the city of Rotterdam with the first load of Marshall Plan aid. Our symposium featured remarks by Rotterdam Mayor Aboutaleb, Ambassador …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 27 April, 2018 | Topics: Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Marshall Plan, NATO, Rotterdam
Museum Huis Doorn and Friends of Romagne 14-18 (Stichting Vrienden van Romagne 14-18) held an event In Doorn on April 14 as part of their World War I Centennial. They presented Public Affairs Officer Sherry Keneson-Hall with the first copy of a new book entitled The Road to Romagne: An American heritage of the First World …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 14 April, 2018 | Topics: Art & Culture, Events, Featured Event, History | Tags: Huis Doorn, WWI
Ambassador Hoekstra travelled to Friesland April 11 and 12, to strengthen cooperation between the Mission and the province. The Ambassador participated in a handful of political and cultural events over the duration of his stay. He met with the King’s Commissioner to Friesland Arno Brok in Leeuwarden, where they discussed the economic and historic relationship …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 13 April, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Art & Culture, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Friesland
March 6-7 2018 – Ambassador Pete Hoekstra visited his birthplace – the city of Groningen. His two-day journey offered a nostalgic look at the city where his parents lived, but also included briefings and meetings with officials, local businesses, universities, and institutes to learn about the innovative opportunities in the northern city. The Ambassador visited …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 8 March, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Culture, Economic Affairs, Education, Environment, Events, Featured Event, History, News, Public Affairs, Science & Tech, Trade, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Groningen
February 22, 2018 Dank u wel. Ik wil u allereerst mijn excuses aanbieden. Ik wil deze toespraak heel graag in het Nederlands houden, ondanks dat mijn Nederlandse uitspraak nog niet perfect is, maar ik werk er aan. Burgemeester Bruls, collega’s van het corps diplomatique, overlevenden, verwanten van de slachtoffers, dames en heren, beste kinderen, ik …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 23 February, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Nijmegen
Ambassador Hoekstra and his wife Diane visited the Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam recently. Director Ronald Leopold explained his organization’s educational mission and talked about the renovations being made to the building that houses The Secret Annex where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis for more than two years during World War …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 24 January, 2018 | Topics: Ambassador, Amsterdam, Art & Culture, Education, Europe & Eurasia, History, U.S. & the Netherlands
The Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands, opened an incredible exhibit November 18, with music, food, Elvis and Marilyn. “The American Dream” is an exhibit that spans more than 70 years and is spread across two museums in two countries. The Drents Museum is displaying works covering the post-war decades 1945-1965 and the Kunsthalle Emden, …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 20 November, 2017 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, Education, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Assen, Drents Museum, The American Dream
A rare artifact is coming to a Dutch railway museum in Goes this week: a Whitcomb diesel locomotive from after the Second World War. The Whitcomb locomotive type was bought in bulk by Dutch Railways after World War II. A part of the Marshall Plan – the U.S.-funded blueprint for reconstruction of 16 war-crippled countries …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 25 October, 2017 | Topics: Culture, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Stoomtrein Goes-Borsele, Whitcomb
The Canadian soldiers who helped liberate the Netherlands in World War II were honored during a memorial ceremony held on October 22, 2017, at the Canadian War Cemetery in Bergen op Zoom. Our Chargé d’Affaires Shawn Crowley joined Canadian Ambassador Sabine Nölke as well as hundreds of others at the impressive ceremony. The cemetery is …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 23 October, 2017 | Topics: Chargé D’Affaires, Events, Featured Event, History | Tags: Bergen op Zoom, Canada, Sabine Nölke
The Chargé d’Affaires Shawn Crowley delivered remarks at the unveiling of a new monument in the community of Beek on Saturday, October 14. He was joined by Mayor Christine van Basten-Boddin and the deputy Governor of the Province of Limburg Ger Koopmans. The Embassy’s Air Attaché Colonel Scott Fisher also participated in the ceremony. On …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 16 October, 2017 | Topics: Chargé D’Affaires, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: B-17, Christine van Basten-Boddin, Ger Koopmans, Limburg, Stichting Herdenking Oorlogsslachtoffers Beek
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, would have been 100 this year. To mark that occasion, Alex Krijger published the first in-depth biography of JFK in Dutch in almost 25 years. At a book launching event at ProDemos in The Hague, Krijger presented Chargé d’Affaires Shawn Crowley the first copy of …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 6 October, 2017 | Topics: Art & Culture, Chargé D’Affaires, Culture, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Alex Krijger, JFK, Kennedy
Consul General David McCawley delivered remarks before the annual Liberation Concert at the Netherlands-American Cemetery in Margraten September 17, 2017 Distinguished veterans, Mr. Mackus, Mayor Akkermans, Ms. Young, Lieutenant General Rittimann, Superintendent Stadler, Mr. de Goeij, Mr. Rosu and members of the South Netherlands Philharmonic, it is a distinct honor for me and my wife …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 25 September, 2017 | Topics: Amsterdam, Consul General, Featured Event, History, Speeches, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Liberation, Margraten
Leo S. Ullman was one of the lucky ones. It probably didn’t feel much like luck at the time. He was taken away from his parents. He had to stay with strangers for more than two years. He had to disappear, given false papers. Become illegal. He ended up in an orphanage. His parents had …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 22 September, 2017 | Topics: Culture, Europe & Eurasia, Events, Featured Event, History | Tags: Cultural Corner, Yad Vashem
A photograph taken March 1843 in Washington, D.C. is the oldest known photograph of a U.S. President, but could this be the oldest known photograph of a U.S. Ambassador too? John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829, but before that he was also the fifth U.S. Ambassador …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 28 August, 2017 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, Featured Event, Former U.S. Ambassadors, History, News | Tags: John Quincy Adams, Smithsonian
It was 8:45 p.m. and getting dark. It was drizzling. And still a group of locals from Grave, the Netherlands, came to remember a man most of them had never met who was being buried – at that precise moment – 5,600 miles away in Riverside, California. George Roth, 98, died on July 24 and …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 3 August, 2017 | Topics: Featured Event, History, U.S. & the Netherlands
Press Statement Rex W. Tillerson Secretary of State Washington, DC June 6, 2017 Seventy years ago, on June 5, 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall laid out his bold vision for the United States to help the war-ravaged nations of Europe recover from the massive destruction of World War II. Marshall’s vision was central …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 6 June, 2017 | Topics: Events, Former U.S. Government Leaders, History, News | Tags: Marshall Plan, Rex Tillerson
Hundreds of citizens from the Netherlands, America, and other nations gathered, Saturday May 27, at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten to prepare for the annual ceremony in honor of Memorial Day. The cemetery is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and is the final resting place for 8,301 American soldiers who …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 27 May, 2017 | Topics: History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: ABMC
A remembrance ceremony was held May 4th in Barendrecht to honor nine Dutch Resistance members, five Dutch military members, a Royal Australian Air Force Spitfire pilot, and four US Army Air Corps aviators who died when their B24 “Liberator” crashed in 1945. · Resistance Fighters M. Maasdam C. Keijzer J. Veldhoen A. Eriks B. Moekestorm …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 12 May, 2017 | Topics: Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Barendrecht
We were deeply honored to join U.S. and other Allied veterans at Friday’s “Het Gooi Bevrijd” commemoration in the village of Bussum near Amsterdam. More than 80 vintage WWII vehicles joined the colorful procession in honor of Dutch Liberation Day. It was great to see so many young people in the crowds. We were especially …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 8 May, 2017 | Topics: Consul General, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Bussum, Robert Izumi
The soldiers took part in a tribute to the allies which included Belgian, British, Canadian, Dutch, French, Norwegian, and Polish soldiers. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked on while the soldiers marched out with other allies. The concert was broadcast live on television via channel NPO 1 and can be seen by clicking this …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 6 May, 2017 | Topics: Amsterdam, Chargé D’Affaires, Events, History, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Department of Defense, US Army Europe
Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Bob Kingman was in Maastricht for the presentation of a new book by Mieke Kirkels, “Children of African-American Liberators.” Along with Kierkels, he presented copies of the book to the 12 “children” who were featured in the book. Kirkels’ first book, “From Alabama to Margraten,” told the story of Dr. …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 21 April, 2017 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, Deputy Chief of Mission, Featured Event, History, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Mieke Kirkels
Yesterday we celebrated international women’s day and women’s history month at the U.S. Consulate General. Let’s keep pushing so that future girls think “what’s the big deal” with a woman astronaut, a woman president, a woman CEO, a woman dean, whatever.
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 10 March, 2017 | Topics: Amsterdam, Featured Event, Gender Issues, History, Human Rights, News, Public Affairs, Video
As February draws to a close, Black History Month also ends. March is when Women’s History Month is celebrated in the United States. This video on the life of Sojourner Truth highlights her contributions as a woman and as an African-American to U.S. history. As a young girl, Truth was known as Isabella “Baumfree”, after …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 28 February, 2017 | Topics: Culture, Featured Event, History, Video | Tags: Cultural Corner
Public Affairs Counselor Sherry Keneson-Hall joined Mayor Bruls and other regional leaders in laying wreaths at the annual commemoration of the Nijmegen bombing February 22, 2017. The ceremony has taken place since 2001 to remembers the 800 victims of the tragic 1944 bombing of the city of Nijmegen. Keneson-Hall was asked to speak as the …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 23 February, 2017 | Topics: Culture, Events, Featured Event, History, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Nijmegen
When Dr. King visited the Netherlands in 1964, he said, “Honesty and realism impel me to admit that we still have a long, long way to go. But I think the important thing is that we are making progress.” At Sunday’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Dinner in the Hague, Chargé d’Affaires Shawn Crowley said …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 30 January, 2017 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, Europe & Eurasia, History, Human Rights | Tags: Jr.
In many ways, this is where it all started: Leiden’s Pieterskerk in the Netherlands. In 1620, 35 pilgrims departed Leiden for Plymouth in England. From there, they sailed onward aboard The Mayflower to the new colonies of Massachusetts. The first harvest festival celebrated in the new colony is seen as the origin of Thanksgiving. And here, …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 24 November, 2016 | Topics: Culture, Deputy Chief of Mission, Europe & Eurasia, History, Key Officials, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Leiden., Pieterskerk, Thanksgiving
Our historic Consulate General is featured in this week’s episode of At5’s “Straten van Amsterdam.” Check it out here: https://www.at5.nl/gemist/tv/272
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 9 November, 2016 | Topics: Amsterdam, Art & Culture, Consul General, Events, Featured Event, History | Tags: Amsterdam, Culture, Streets of Amsterdam
Last week, U.S. Vice Consul Kharmika Alston (left) attended the closing the Netherlands’ first annual Black Achievement Month (October 1-31). See www.blackachievementmonth.nl to learn more about this important milestone.
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 8 November, 2016 | Topics: Culture, Education, Featured Event, History, Human Rights | Tags: Amsterdam, Black Achievement Month, Black History Month, Consulate General
September 17-18 – On various locations in the Arnhem/Nijmegen region, people gathered to commemorate those who fought in Operation Market Garden to help liberate the Netherlands.
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 19 September, 2016 | Topics: Deputy Chief of Mission, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Arnhem, Eerde, Eindhoven, Market Garden, Nijmegen
On September 15, a unique American flag carried during D-Day in 1944 arrived at the Nationaal Militair Museum in Soesterberg. The flag was accepted with military ceremony in the presence of Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and about twenty American World War II veterans. The museum opened an exhibition on the flag on this day. …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 16 September, 2016 | Topics: Art & Culture, Deputy Chief of Mission, Featured Event, History, News, Public Affairs, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: D-Day, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. veterans, Nationaal Militair Museum, Soesterberg
Embassy personnel came together to share their memories of the attacks on September 11, 2001. Overseas Americans Remember organized the ceremony which combined personal stories and music to honor those who died on that day 15 years ago, along with those who worked tirelessly to save them.
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 12 September, 2016 | Topics: Deputy Chief of Mission, embassy, Events, Featured Event, History, News, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: 9/11, Overseas Americans Remember
Since 2006, the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten has held an open-air Liberation Concert as a tribute to and in remembrance of the liberation of the Netherlands that began in September 1944 and those who died to secure it. CDA Shawn P. Crowley gave the opening remarks below at the concert on September 4, 2016. …
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By U.S. Mission Netherlands | 7 September, 2016 | Topics: Deputy Chief of Mission, embassy, Events, Featured Event, History, Key Officials, News, Public Affairs, Speeches, U.S. & the Netherlands | Tags: Margraten, WWII
