Local observance honors prisoners of war buried in Utah
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Participating with German Air Force officers on a cold day before a gathering of about 100 members of the local German-American community in a U.S. military cemetery in Salt Lake City, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf on Nov. 14 observed Volkstrauertag, the German national day of mourning similar to Memorial Day in the United States.
The observance at Fort Douglas, a historic U.S. Army installation in Utah's capital city, is an annual event that includes a ceremonial walk along the graves of scores of German soldiers who died in Utah as prisoners of war during World War I and World War II, their remains interred among the graves of American military personnel in the Fort Douglas Cemetery.
President Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, laid a wreath at the foot of a monument in the cemetery that preserves the names of 21 German POWs interred in 1917-18. He was assisted by Elder Robert C. Oaks, a former member of the Presidency of the Seventy and a retired Air Force general and NATO commander; Charles W. Dahlquist, former Young Men general president and honorary consul of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Frank Clawson of LDS Military Relations.
Also laying a wreath at the monument were Capt. Paul Roth, German Air Force liaison officer at Utah's Hill AFB, who conducted program, and Senior Master Sgt. Marko Exner of the German Air Force.
A fighter pilot in the West German Air Force before becoming an airline captain and ultimately a General Authority, President Uchtdorf said he felt amazed to be there in the presence of uniformed men, especially those with German uniforms.
He recalled being 4 years old at the end of World War II and said he had vivid memories of the years of destruction, adding that his older brother, only 15, at the time was drafted into military service and eventually was taken prisoner. Americans were kind to young people, President Uchtdorf said, and the brother managed to escape and returned home.
At age 19, President Uchtdorf joined the German Air Force, and one of his first assignments during his basic training to become a pilot was to stand at attention as a guard during a Volkstrauertag observance near Hamburg. He recalled that it was a similar kind of day, cold with a cloud cover, but that it seems appropriate for the occasion, especially in a location like Utah, which normally has clear, blue skies in November.
President Uchtdorf noted that the German memorial holiday is only two Sundays before Advent, which, in that land, marks the beginning of preparation for Christmas. "It's the preparation to receive and to have the message of the Christ in our lives."
He said he has observed from his global travels that peace is a desire in all nations. "I think a soldier, a military man, has a special desire for peace, because eventually these are the ones who lay their lives on the line and bring the ultimate sacrifice when the time comes to preserve and rescue peace."
He said mourning is the deepest expression of love for someone else.
President Uchtdorf said when he thinks of Christ, he remembers the message in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are those who mourn."
"It appears at first glance unusual and even contradictory," he said. "But the mourning for someone else, this intense feeling, cannot be hidden from the world or from God. It cannot be eased, only by love from someone else and by love from God."
For Capt. Roth, this ninth Volkstrauertag observance he has conducted in Salt Lake City will be the last, as he and his family will be returning to Germany.
In his address, he told of German World War II widow Dorle Ochsner, who spent 59 years searching for the remains of her husband killed in action in September 1944. Her investigation finally located his resting place among some unmarked graves in a farmer's field in Latvia. Ultimately, she was present for the excavation of the grave in April 2003.
"What a remarkable, strong woman," Capt. Roth said. "What a story about love, about hope. What a story about mourning and commemorating."
He added, "Reconciliation and peace for the world are the intended goals, the motive, the essence, yes, the heading of the Volkstrauertag."
From five decades of living in Germany and Europe, Capt. Roth said, he and his family understand that peace does not come about by simply pressing a button.
"We have understood that peace is a continuous learning process, and I know that Germany and all the other western democracies have successfully walked this road for decades," he said. "After the end of the second world war, and with tremendous support from our friends, first and foremost the United States of America, we have built a stable democracy and an intact and dependable state firmly rooted in the rule of law."
A local German choir, Harmonie, sang the German national anthem and LDS hymns in German during the observance, including "O My Father," "Praise to the Lord," and "God Be with You Till We Meet Again."
