Four Spanish Officers Receive the French National Defence Medal

General Valentín-Gamazo receives the medal (Photo:Ángel Manrique Alonso/Army Communication Department)

 

The four decorated Spanish officers (Photo:Ángel Manrique Alonso/Army Communication Department)

A moving ceremony for the French Army fallen (Photo:Ángel Manrique Alonso/Army Communication Department)

Four Spanish officers have been awarded the French National Defence medal at a ceremony held today, Victory in Europe Day at the French consulate in Madrid. General Valentín-Gamazo, chief of the Army Staff General Secretariat, received the medal from General Rivault, Chiel of Staff of one of the two Deployable Joint Staff Elements from NATO Headquarters in Retamares (Madrid).
 

The other three Spanish officers receiving medals were Colonel Pérez García, from the Training and Doctrine Command Training Department; Colonel  Molina, from the Army Staff Training Division; and Lieutenant Colonel Lanchares, from the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff’s Studies Unit.   They have all been awarded the medal by the French Defence ministry attaché, Colonel De Moulins. Also receiving a medal were Major Cornetto, from the French Air Force; and four French Foreign Legion colour bearers of Spanish nationality -Julio Fernández, Sebastián Albaladejo, Alfredo de Malibrán and Luis Fernández-Bisquerra-, who have served over 15 years in that elite French Army unit. 
 

Presiding over the ceremony has been the French ambassador to Spain, Mr. Bruno Delaye, who in his address has briefly reviewed the five year war that the Allies fought against Nazism in Europe, on the occasion of the celebration of 8th May 1945, Victory in Europe Day, when Hitler was finally defeated.  Furthermore, the diplomat has paid tribute to the French who fought against the Nazis, ‘whose example will always be a current value, since it demonstrates that a nation rich in history, moved by a single aspiration, by uniting its forces, is capable of overcoming what is insurmountable’.  In turn the Spanish general has delivered an address of gratitude on behalf of all the soldiers receiving medals, has reviewed the activities and missions in which Spain and France have worked jointly and has underlined that especially ‘sharing a common vision of this great reality which is Europe unites us and overall, the need for the defence of our interests, which are everyone’s, regardless of language or geographic situation’. 
 

Students from the French secondary school in Madrid have also participated in the ceremony by placing floral wreaths before both monoliths, during the tribute to the French Army fallen.  In addition to the French and Spanish national anthems, the King’s Immemorial 1st Infantry Regiment military band has performed the anthem of the European Union –Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony or Ode to Joy-, the best sound track for a day such as today, which celebrates 67 years of the end of the horror that cast a shadow over Europe.