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Prince Radu welcomed on Friday at the Elisabeta Palace the servicemen who raced in the Veterans' Relay.
"We can never reward our present day veterans as much as they deserve. We try in every way to make the Romanian society aware of their precious example, but we will never be able to find enough words to express how much they mean to today's world, a world that - for the most part, day in and day out - only shows the opposite of what these people have taught us through their lesson of suffering and life," Prince Radu said at the event held in the garden of the Elisabeta Palace.
He underscored that "the entire Romanian military is based on hierarchy, responsibility, discipline, specialization, the sense of duty and patriotism, but very few of these principles and values succeed in making their voice heard in society in another area than the military."
"And even when the voice of principles and values is heard, it is not certain that the journey from here to their implementation is done properly. In other words, we only rarely see examples of loyalty, of courage and modesty around us," said the Prince.
Prince Radu praised the Invictus Volunteers Association for its "proven creativity" in education-related projects materialized in high school visits turned into "great stories of history", as well as in the participation in sports competitions, including the biennial Invictus Games, where Romanians are a highly honorable presence.
Secretary of State for Parliament Liaison and Life quality of the National Defense Ministry's staff Marius Balau, and the vice-president of the Invictus Volunteers Association, Lt. engineer Marian Ilie also had words of appreciation for the participants in the Veterans Relay.
Marian Ilie handed Prince Radu a symbolic painting featuring the three batons carried in the Veterans Relay - the red one, which set off in Chisinau (Republic of Moldova), the blue one, which took off in Marasesti, and the yellow one - which left from Fagaras, for them to all arrive in Carei on Romanian Army Day, October 25.
Ionut Butoi, a soldier who was wounded in the Afghanistan war zone, presented Prince Radu with the Veterans Relay medal.
Attending the event were soldiers who were wounded in war zones, representatives of the National Defense Ministry and members of the Invictus Volunteers Association.
The eighth Veterans Relay kicked off this year on October 1, ran through all of Romania's counties and ended on October 25, Romanian Army Day. 800 Invictus volunteers from all over the country, runners and cyclists covered the three history-laden routes of the event totaling about 3,800 kilometers, from Marasesti, Chisinau and Fagaras to northern Carei, in a tribute to Romania's heroes of yesterday and today.
The Invictus Volunteers Association has been under the High Patronage of Prince Radu since 2016.
