2006年VOA标准英语-Senegalese Veterans Happy With French Pension I

By Jordan Davis
Dakar
30 September 2006 

Alioune Kamara the head of Senegal's office of veterans and war victims, stand in front of his office building at Dakar, Senegal, Sept. 26, 2006

Tens of thousands of veterans of France's colonial army will soon receive a raise in their pensions, after complaining for years of discrimination. Beginning in January, France will pay veterans living in its former colonies the same benefits as their French counterparts.

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Mamadou Niang enlisted¹ in the French army in 1955. He was sent from his native Senegal to mainland France to train as a paratrooper, before serving in the Algerian war in 1956.

Niang says his colonial army regiment² saw frequent combat.  Many fellow soldiers, he says never returned home.

Though Mamadou Niang fought in French uniform, the Senegalese soldier's pension checks are far less than those for fellow veterans in France. Niang receives 193 euros a month, or about $250. French veterans receive more than twice that amount.

That will change next year when France aligns³ its overseas veterans pensions with those paid out in France. The move affects more than 80,000 former soldiers in nearly 24 countries from Africa to Southeast Asia.

In 1959, when many of those countries were gaining independence, France froze pension increases.

French media has credited a new film about the contributions of North African soldiers in World War II with convincing President Jacques Chirac to right what many consider a historical wrong. 

Mamadou Niang says, by raising the pension payments, France is finally paying soldiers from its former colonies for the blood and sweat they shed.

An estimated 100,000 colonial army soldiers died while fighting for France in both World Wars, as well as French battles in Southeast Asia and Algeria during the 1950s.

Veterans groups in France and abroad had fought for years to bring overseas pensions in line with those paid out in France. They argued that payments in some countries were so low, veterans were forced into poverty.

To the disappointment of some, the French government will not make the new pensions retroactive to make up for over 40 years of unequal pay.

But for Mamadou Niang, who went on to serve as a commander in the Senegalese army, the pension increase has symbolic⁴ significance.

After all, he says, he has lived all these years without the extra money. At this point, he says, the increase in his pension is just a bonus.

1 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

3 aligns   

使成一线( align的第三人称单数 )； 排整齐； 校准； 公开支持（某人、集体或观点）

参考例句：

• HASP SRM fully aligns with the software product lifecycle. HASPSRM完全遵循软件产品的生命周期。
• Significant employee aligns the interests of our employees and our shareholders. 员工大量持股可以使员工与股东的利益协调一致。

4 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。