Honouring the nation’s fallen heroes

The attendees were received with military honours, and following the national anthem the bell was tolled in remembrance of troops killed in the line of duty and civilians who lost their lives while defending the homeland.

Dr. Csaba Hende, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Hungary underlined in his address: in 1915, when staff major Baron Ferenc Abele wrote his first letter to Count István Tisza, calling for the construction of monuments in villages to honour fallen heroes, there was already a war. “Austria-Hungary enlisted 9 million people, of which 1,534,200 were killed and 1,943,000 were wounded – and we, the children of a happier age do not know, do not understand what is behind these horrible numbers, what war means," said the minister, emphasising that Heroes’ Memorial Day was established by Act XIV of 1924. “In 1925, the defence minister issued a decree that in addition to March 15 and August 20, this day should also be a national holiday," the minister added, underlining that from 1946, there were no formal ceremonies on this day.

In his speech he also mentioned that even though the resting places of the country’s late enemies are protected by international agreements, Hungarian military cemeteries were demolished by construction vehicles in more than one place. "World War I casualty lists, as memories of soldiers of an imperialist war, were burned in the Institute of Military History, and monuments were ignored and fell into decay," said Dr. Csaba Hende, underlining that since 1989, local communities have been celebrating Heroes’ Memorial Day again: like he said, as the state secretary of the Ministry of Justice, in 2001 it was him who could put forward the bill on the reinstatement of the memorial day to Parliament.

"Some of the people who joined the army were looking for adventure, and some of them joined on orders. And there were some who believed that when they were needed, the right thing to do was to put on the uniform, take a weapon and become soldiers. In any case, all of them were fighting under Hungarian colours for the homeland," said the minister, pointing out that the most important task of the state, the prerequisite of its existence and operation is to guarantee peace and security. "To protect the lives, individual and community rights, values and assets of its citizens against every external attack and threat, therefore the protection of the homeland is a national cause, and the Hungarian Defence Forces are a national institution."

He said one of the most important tasks of the new defence leadership is to recover the prestige of this profession, this calling with decent, good work. "The profession which requires very extensive knowledge and serious physical, spiritual and intellectual preparation of all of us, and the calling which demands continuous standby, unconditional dedication, and death-defying courage for the common cause," the minister underlined.

“What can we give our fallen heroes? Nothing. Nothing can compare with their sacrifice. Neither the military honours, nor the monuments. It is our duty to ourselves to remember them, to ‘say their sacred names in blessed prayers’, said Csaba Hende, who also called attention to the story of Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Steinford, whose plane was shot down over Hungary. “Six decades after WWII, our troops have found and identified the man who was killed in action, and the US government has had his remains repatriated with military honours. Because it was their duty to themselves. It is our duty to ourselves, to those who survived, and it is also our duty to learn and preserve the stories of our grandparents and great-grandparents," he emphasised.

The minister added: the entire system of military grave maintenance will be reorganised. “We will preserve the memory of our fallen soldiers in a proper way and people will be given access to all data available on them, and we will also do our best to find our lost soldiers."

And finally, the defence minister said: Heroes’ Square was built to give an overview of the nation’s thousand years. "Our leaders and statesmen, starting with Árpád with a panther’s skin, to Saint Stephen and Count István Széchenyi, these great men are the best company for those who had fallen in the fight for their country in 1100 years. I would like all of us to understand their message, to bear their admonitions, warnings, their legacy in mind, and whenever we meet them, we should feel that we belong together."

Following Csaba Hende’s speech, President László Sólyom, Pál Schmitt, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Péter Paczolay, the President of the Constitutional Court, and András Baka, the President of the Supreme Court laid wreaths on the Hungarian Heroes’ Memorial Stone.

On behalf of the Ministry of Defence, Csaba Hende and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. László Tömböl laid flowers of remembrance.