Lakenheath, Mildenhall Airmen remember VE Day Published May 13, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Dawn M. Weber 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- On this day, we remember. May 8 marked the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, which ended World War II and the Nazi tyranny in Europe. "My dear friends, this is your hour," said Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. "This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole." After the end of the war, celebrations broke out across Europe and the United States. People gathered in streets around the world as the announcement was made. 70 years later, people still join together to remember the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. As a symbol to remember the men and women who bravely fought during World War II, poppies and poppy wreaths are displayed across Europe. The poppy has long been used as a way to commemorate those who died in war. "Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the world of Hitler and his evil band," said President Harry S. Truman. "Let us not forget, my fellow Americans, the sorrow and the heartache which today abide in the homes of so many of our neighbors--neighbors whose most priceless possession has been rendered as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty."