VOICER Soldiers from Napoleon's army are re-buried in military ceremony

(1 Jun 2003) VOICED BY VERA FRANKL

SHOTLIST
0000 Soldiers marching and soldiers with wreath
0007 Mid shot wreath being laid
0016 Mid shot soldiers wearing traditional Napoleonic uniform
0021 Honour guard giving gun salute
0029 Priest blessing the dead
0032 French flag and audience
0035 Various soldiers in traditional uniform
0059 SOUNDBITE (English) Linas Linkevicius, Lithuanian Defence Minister
"In 2001 we found the remains of about 3,000 soldiers of Napoleon's army, and since it's really a tradition of every civilised nation to pay respect and to bury the remains, it was done today."
0114 Wreath being laid at memorial
0125 SOUND ENDS
0129 VISION ENDS

STORYLINE

Two centuries after they died, about three-thousand French soldiers from Napoleon's army have finally been given a proper burial with full military honours.

The men were part of Napoleon's Grand Army which marched into Lithuania bound for Moscow.

It was one of the largest forces ever assembled, but only six months later only 40-thousand men remained. They retreated to Vilnius where many of them died in bitter winter weather.

VOICE-OVER

0000 UPSOUND

0004 The remains of the French soldiers, who froze or starved to death during Napoleon's invasion of Russia two-hundred years ago, are buried in a hilltop cemetery in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.

0016 At the solemn ceremony, soldiers wore traditional Napoleonic uniforms to honour the dead.

0021 Guns from the honour guard echoed through the trees.

0025 UPSOUND Gunfire

0029 A priest then blessed the dead.

0033 The bodies of the soldiers were discovered in Lithuania two years ago.

0038 Authorities initially believed they were the remains of dissidents executed by secret police during Soviet rule.

0044 But coins with Napoleon's image were discovered at the site and experts soon identified the bodies as soldiers from the French emperor's army.

0053 Lithuania's Defence Minister attended the ceremony.

0058 SOUNDBITE (English) Linas Linkevicius, Lithuanian Defence Minister
"In 2001 we found the remains of about 3,000 soldiers of Napoleon's army, and since it's really a tradition of every civilised nation to pay respect and to bury the remains, it was done today."

0115 UPSOUND

0117 The fallen soldiers will now rest alongside leading Lithuanian politicians and independence heroes in the forests of Atakalnis cemetery.

0125 SOUND ENDS
0129 VISION ENDS

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...