Ambassador Hans Peter Manz and the mayor of Salzburg, Heinz Schaden, joined WWII veterans and the Society of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division for a memorial ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on May 28, 2015, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Salzburg by the 3rd ID in May of 1945. In a moving ceremony, Ambassador Manz and Mayor Schaden personally thanked the attending veterans. Afterwards, the party moved on to the 3rd ID Monument just outside the ANC’s Amphitheater for a wreath laying ceremony, followed by another stop at the grave of Audie Murphy, the highest decorated U.S. soldier in WWII fighting in the ranks of the 3rd ID.
Ambassador Manz laying a wreath at the 3rd ID monument
The ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery was followed by a lunch reception and an academic seminar at the Austrian Embassy. The president of Outpost International, Society of the 3rd ID, CPT (ret.) C. Monica Stoy thanked the Embassy and Mayor Schaden for honoring the veterans and presented a plaque of recognition to Ambassador Manz.
To start the seminar, LTC (ret.) Timothy Stoy gave an overview of the 3rd ID’s march to Salzburg, followed by Dr. Günther Bischof, Marshall Plan Professor of History at the University of New Orleans and Director of the Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies, who discussed the end of the War in Austria and Austria’s path to full independence. Finally, Dr. Stephen Beller, independent scholar on Austrian, Jewish and Central European history, gave an overview of Austria’s role and identity in Europe then and now.