阵亡将士纪念日:美国人缅怀为国捐躯的战士 US Honors Its War Dead on Memorial Day

The United States paused Monday to honor its war dead on the annual Memorial Day.
星期一,在一年一度的“阵亡将士纪念日”,美国停下脚步来缅怀战死的军人。

With U.S. President Donald Trump in Japan on a state visit, Vice President Mike Pence laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington. Trump, before returning home, is marking the holiday with an address Tuesday to American troops at the Yokosuka U.S. Naval Base near Tokyo about the "global nature of the partnership between Japan and the U.S."
美国总统特朗普正在对日本进行国事访问,副总统彭斯在华盛顿郊外的阿灵顿国家公墓无名战士墓前敬献了花圈。特朗普返美前在当地时间星期二对东京横须贺美国海军基地的美国军人发表节日讲话,谈到了“日美伙伴关系的全球性”。

At the cemetery, Pence told hundreds of military dignitaries and relatives of the fallen that the U.S. "can never fully repay" its debt to those who gave their lives for the country.
在阿灵顿公墓,彭斯对数以百计的军界要人和阵亡官兵亲属说,对那些为国捐躯的人来说,美国对他们的亏欠“永远也无法还清”。

"We will never forget," he said, "and we will never forget to honor” them. “Their duty was to serve, our duty is to honor them.”
彭斯说:“我们永远也不会忘记他们,并且我们永远也不会忘记来纪念他们。他们的职责是效力,我们的职责是纪念他们。”

Parades and somber remembrances are planned in U.S. cities large and small on Monday to recall the ultimate sacrifice that hundreds of thousands of Americans have borne for their country's freedom through its 243-year existence.
星期一,美国各地大小城市都计划举行游行和悼念活动,向美国立国243年来上百万为国家自由做出终极牺牲的人表达追思。

It is estimated that 1.1 million Americans have died in conflict, but the largest single death toll — nearly a half million — came in the 19th century U.S. Civil War fought between northern and southern states over slavery, a practice ended after Union states in the northern U.S. prevailed. In the deadliest overseas conflict, more than 400,000 Americans were killed in World War II.
据估计,有110万美国人死于冲突,但最大的单场战争死亡人数,也就是将近50万人,发生在19世纪的美国内战。当时美国南北各州为了奴隶制问题而兵戎相见。北方的联邦军队打败了南方的邦联军队,结束了奴隶制。死亡人数最多的海外战争是第二次世界大战,有40多万美国人在二战期间丧生疆场。

Various places across the U.S. have been cited in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, with perhaps the first commemoration of war dead in 1868, three years after the Civil War ended. In early rural America, families often marked the day in late summer. For years, the memorial was known as Decoration Day and the fallen from all U.S. wars were remembered and their service honored.
美国各地有不同的地方号称与“阵亡将士纪念日“(Memorial Day)的起源有关。首次纪念阵亡者的日子也许是在1868年,也就是美国内战结束三年后。在美国早期农业时代,各家经常在夏末迎来这一天。多年来,这个纪念日被称为“勋章日”(Decoration Day),悼念在美国历次战争中倒下的战士,并向他们为国效力表达敬意。

Memorial Day for years was set on May 30, but it became a national U.S. holiday in 1971 and now is celebrated on the last Monday in May. For some, a national moment of remembrance is set at 3 p.m. local time on the holiday.
“阵亡将士纪念日”曾经多年来都定在5月30日,但是这个日子在1971年成为美国全国假日,现在定在5月份的最后一个星期一。对一些人来说,这一天的当地时间下午3点是全国追思时刻。

Families of the fallen often visit the grave sites of their loved ones or watch parades with bands and flag-waving marchers. But for other Americans, the day is unofficially the beginning of summer and part of a three-day weekend when families head to parks and the beach or enjoy picnics with friends and relatives.
阵亡将士的亲属经常凭吊亲人的墓地,或者观看鼓乐喧天旗帜招展的游行。对其它美国人来说,这一天是夏季的非正式开始,也是三天的长周末,家人会去公园和海滩度假,或者与亲戚朋友一道野餐。

In Washington on Sunday, thousands of motorcycles roared through the streets for what organizers say will be the last Rolling Thunder celebration in the nation's capital.
星期日在华盛顿,数以千计的摩托车骑手轰鸣地穿过街头。组织者说,这将是在首都最后一次举行“滚雷”(Rolling Thunder)活动。

The annual Memorial Day tradition is meant to draw attention to more than 83,000 U.S. military personnel still listed as Missing in Action from World War I through the recent fighting in Iraq. The list also includes 126 people believed missing from operations related to the Cold War.
在“阵亡将士纪念日”这一天举行“滚雷”摩托车游行的传统是为了让人们关注8.3万多名仍然被列为战时失踪的美国军人。这些战争从第一次世界大战直到最近的伊拉克战事。这份名单还包括126名据信是在与冷战有关的行动中失踪的人。

The first Rolling Thunder was held in 1988. The cyclists usually meet up in a Pentagon parking lot and ride into downtown Washington across the various bridges spanning the Potomac River.
第一届“滚雷”活动在1988年举行。摩托车骑手们在五角大楼的停车场集合,然后通过波多马克河上的不同大桥,驶入华盛顿城内。

But Rolling Thunder Executive Director Artie Muller said this is the last year he will hold the ride in Washington.
但是,“滚雷”执行主任阿蒂·穆勒(Artie Muller)说,这是他最后一年在华盛顿举行“滚雷”活动了。

Muller said he has grown frustrated with the Pentagon bureaucracy in coordinating the event. Mueller said sponsors, vendors and others have not been given access to parking lots even though Rolling Thunder said it paid "exorbitant permit fees."
穆勒说,在协调活动期间,五角大楼的官僚体系让他难以忍受。他说,虽然“滚雷”支付了“天价的许可费”,可是赞助商、摊贩和其他人却不被获准进入五角大楼的停车场。

For many people, the group's decades-long presence with the loud roar of their motorcycle engines has become synonymous with Memorial Day activities in Washington.
摩托车队轰鸣驶过街头的传统持续了几十年,对很多人来说,这已经成了华盛顿“阵亡将士纪念日”的同义词了。

Trump says Rolling Thunder is always welcome in the city.
特朗普总统说,华盛顿永远欢迎“滚雷”。

"The Great Patriots of Rolling Thunder will be coming back to Washington, D.C. next year, and hopefully for many years to come. It is where they want to be and where they should be," Trump tweeted as he thanked the "great men & women of the Pentagon for working it out."
特朗普在推特上说:“了不起的滚雷爱国者明年还会回到华盛顿市,希望今后多年还会回来。他们希望来这里,也应该来这里。”特朗普还感谢“五角大楼了不起的男女员工把问题解决”。

In an interview with VOA, Muller said Rolling Thunder is "willing to talk" with the president. But despite the president's postings on Twitter, Muller said, "I think we really want to go nationwide" with local chapters holding their own observations on Memorial Day.
阿蒂·穆勒在接受美国之音采访时说,“滚雷”愿意跟总统谈。然而,虽然总统发了推,但是穆勒说:“我认为,我们真的想走遍全国”,由当地各个分会今后在“阵亡将士纪念日”这一天在本地举行自己的活动。

Muller said the annual trek to the nation's capital is becoming too much for some Rolling Thunder members. "We're all getting old and can't ride that far," he said. For members who come from the West Coast, Muller said, "It a haul. You're talking 2 to 3,000 miles... That takes a lot out of you."
穆勒说,每年的首都之旅对很多“滚雷”成员来说,已经是力不从心了。“我们都老了,骑不了那么远了,”他说。穆勒说,有些成员来自西海岸,“那是长途跋涉。我们说的可是两千到三千英里……那要耗费我们很多的体力。”

Pentagon figures show 83,000 American military personnel remain unaccounted for. Most of them — about 73,000 — are from World War II. Upwards of 7,700 are from the Korean War, and more than 1,600 are from the Vietnam War.
五角大楼的数字显示,仍有8300名美国军人下落不明。其中大约7300在二战期间失踪,7700多人在韩战期间失踪。越战期间失踪的军人超过1600人。

Trump, before he left for Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said he is considering pardons for several military servicemen accused or convicted of war crimes, an action that critics say would be an abuse of his pardon powers.
特朗普总统在前往日本会晤安倍晋三首相之前说,他正在考虑大赦几名被指控或被判定犯有战争罪的美国军人。批评者说,这将是滥用他的大赦权。

"We're looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people," Trump said at the White House.
特朗普在白宫说:“我们正在考虑对好多不同的人给予好多不同的大赦。“

"Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long, you know. We teach them how to be great fighters and when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly. So we're going to take a look at it," Trump said.
他说:“这些军人有些人曾经艰苦和长期作战。我们教他们如何做一名了不起的战士,而当他们去作战的时候,有时却受到了真的是很不公平的待遇。所以我们要看看这个问题。“

He acknowledged that two or three cases were "a little bit controversial."
他承认有两三起案例“有点争议“。

But as Memorial Day dawned across the U.S., Trump had yet to announce any pardons.
不过,在美国各地迎来“阵亡将士纪念日”之际,特朗普还没有宣布任何大赦。