Dutch-American Friendship Day 2017

Dutch-American Friendship Day 2017
Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Kingman and President of SHAK 1944 Jons van Dooren cut the cake together.
Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Kingman and President of SHAK 1944 Jons van Dooren cut the cake together.

The U.S. Embassy co-hosted the annual Dutch-American Friendship Day reception together with the organization “Americans Overseas Remember” (OAR).

Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Kingman delivered brief remarks and presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Board of the “Stichting Herdenking Amerikaanse Kerstviering 1944” (SHAK 1944).

Each year, they organize the Christmas Eve Mass in the caves of Maastricht to commemorate the Mass of 1944.  SHAK 1944 President Jons van Dooren joined Mr. Kingman in cutting the ceremonial cake.

In 1982, Mrs. Roberta Enschede and OAR submitted a resolution to the U.S. Congress to designate April 19 as Dutch-American Friendship Day.  The resolution passed the Senate and the House of Representatives as a Joint Resolution – HJ 410.

President Ronald Reagan also issued an official proclamation that year recognizing April 19 as Dutch-American Friendship Day.

Video: Jons van Dooren, Christiaan van der Woude & Anja Adriaans explain the origins of the friendship and what it means today.