Veterans of the Nistru war and the families of those who died in the hostilities during 1991-1992 are saluting the decision of the Moldovan government to declare March 2 as a public Day of Commemoration, Eduard Maican, the chairman of the National Union of the Independence War Veterans, has told Info-Prim Neo. Maican says the initiatives belongs the Union and that it was communicated to Prime Minister Vlad Filat several days ago. “We've been trying to promote this idea with the government since 2001, but the previous system didn't listen to us”, the veteran leader said. “The day of March 2 will remind everybody about those who sacrificed their lives for the independence of the country, will recall the people that independence and liberty has a cost”, Maican declared. He believes that once March 2 was declared public holiday, people from across the country will have time to go to the monuments or the graves of the combatants to lay flowers. The Government at its Wednesday's sitting set up a task-force headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ion Negrei to handle the arrangements for the commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the conflict's start. 400,000 lei was allocated from the Government's reserve fund for the commemorations. Over 200 people died in combat during the Nistru war and roughly 300 people were impaired.