Commemoration of war heroes tomorrow

The Sri Lankan Government is geared up to pay homage to the war heroes who have given their lives in defense of freedom owing to the thirty-year-long civil war, at the National War Heroes’ Commemoration Ceremony tomorrow (May 19).

The commemorative event will commence at 4.00 p.m. at the Battaramulla War Heroes’ Memorial under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Former Presidents, Prime Ministers, Deputy Ministers, the Speaker the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Chiefs of Defence, as well as Commanders of Sri Lanka Armed Forces including the Inspector-General of Police and the war heroes who were maimed in the war while serving our nation in support of combat operations, the relatives of servicemembers together with school cadet groups, are invited to participate in this war hero commemoration ceremony.

“This war hero celebration has been organized this year, with a special war drum beat and floral tributes to value the bravery, heroism and eternal memories of the war heroes of the Army, Air and Navy, Police and Civil Defence Department who sacrificed their lives to secure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country”, highlighted the Defence Secretary (Retired) General Kamal Gunaratne.

It has been 14 years since the three-decade civil war in Sri Lanka called a halt after the leader of the armed dissident group LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) Velupillai Prabhakaran was done away by the Sri Lankan security forces at the Nandikadal Lagoon on May 18, 2009.