Bush pays tribute to slain WWII soldiers

"On this peaceful May morning, we commemorate a great victory for liberty," Bush said at Europe's third-largest cemetery for America war dead near here in Margraten. "The thousands of white marble crosses and stars of David underscore the terrible price we paid for that victory."

On the 60th anniversary of the May 1945 signing of the Berlin armistice that ended the war in Europe, a light, chilly rain greeted Bush at Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial where 8,301 US veterans are buried. Members of White House delegation donned orange plastic raincoats as Bush and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands laid wreaths of tribute, a bugler played taps and military aircraft streaked above the sweeping arcs of gravestones.