WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president and other officials celebrated their country’s Armed Forces Day holiday Monday along with the commander of the U. S. military in Europe and normal U. S. troops, a symbolic display for NATO members on the Eastern Front as Russia wages war. nearby in Ukraine.
General Darryl Williams, the new commanding general of the U. S. Army. A U. S. Citizen for Europe and Africa, he attended the rite in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in central Warsaw.
Young Poles climbed to the top of an American tank and other NATO tanks, aided by smiling American, British and Romanian soldiers.
Despite the festive atmosphere, Williams told The Associated Press that the U. S. presence was intended to convey a message of “strength and resilience. “
“It’s about deterrence, about being strong, NATO is strong, the Poles are strong and we are with them,” he said.
It commemorates Poland’s victory over Soviet Russia in 1920 at the Battle of Warsaw, which halted the Bolshevik army’s westward advance.
In a speech, President Andrzej Duda recalled how self-confident Soviet commanders were at the time of victory, drawing a parallel with Russian assumptions when he presented his full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24.
“For 74 years of its existence, Soviet Russia lost only one official war, and that war was 102 years ago,” he said.
Duda accused Russia of breaking a taboo on the position since World War II that nations do not attack sovereign nations to strip them of their territory or independence.
Among those offered at the ceremonies are Zbigniew Kruszewski, 94, a veteran of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupiers. At that time, Soviet forces were there while the Germans massacred the Poles.
“We didn’t get any help, they abandoned us,” Kruszewski, who now lives in Texas, told the AP, saying he hopes the presence of U. S. troops means Poland will no longer be abandoned.
Before the ceremony, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters: “Years go by, but one thing is constant: when Russia tries to rebuild its empire, it is an evil empire. It commits war crimes. “
Polish troops from other branches of the armed forces marched down a street covered with floating white and red Polish national flags, and Duda was promoted to new generals.
The army organized picnics to recruit volunteers for the armed forces in a new sense of risk fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
U. S. troops have already participated in the Aug. 15 celebration, but it’s the first since President Joe Biden announced at a NATO summit last June that Washington is building its first permanent U. S. military presence in Poland, something Poland has long sought.
The newly christened Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan, in western Poland, is not an unusual flat between Poland and the United States. The base becomes the permanent headquarters in Poland of the U. S. V Army Corps. The U. S. Military base is the easternmost U. S. Military base in Europe. there, however, they still serve on a rotating basis.
The base is named after General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a hero of the American Revolution who built the Fortifications at West Point and then returned to Poland to fight the Russian Imperial Forces.
Major Kevin Andersen, a U. S. Army public affairs officer. He said troops had uttered the call for Kosciuszko (pronounced roughly koh-SHOOSH’-koh) and many called it “Camp K. “
He said the military created a video that helps infantrymen be informed to say it as a sign of respect for Poland as it welcomes Americans.
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