Remarks by the President to Commemorate Veterans Day
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia
11:35 A.M. EST
One veteran, a company commander in the Normandy invasion, returned many decades later to the cemetery overlooking Omaha
Beach. He said, "Standing there in appreciation and sadness and long-postponed grief, I could only wonder, why not me?" Millions of veterans have asked
themselves that same question, and it has helped to shape the course of their lives.
Veterans do not take life for granted. They know that duty and sacrifice are more than words. And they love America deeply, because they know the cost of
freedom, and they know the names and faces of men and women who paid for it.
The term "veteran" conveys more than a rank held in the past. Military service forms priorities and commitments that last for a lifetime. Every person who has
put on the uniform, whether in time of war or in time of peace, has also felt a new sense of responsibility.
Dwight Eisenhower once recalled the day he began his military career. "The feeling came over me," he said, "that the expression 'the United States of America'
would now and henceforth mean something different than it had ever before. From here on, it would be the nation I would be serving, not myself."
Long after their honorable discharge, our veterans still symbolize what it means to be a citizen. Go to any community in this country and you will find veterans
in positions of service and leadership. In so many ways, veterans live out the meaning of patriotism and idealism and concern for others. Those of us who are the
children and grandchildren of veterans have seen those qualities up close -- each of us is better because of the influence of a
veteran. And so is America. (Applause.)
America must, and will, keep its word to those men and women who have given us so much. Veterans have been promised good health care when they are sick and
disabled; they must be treated with fairness and respect.
(Applause.) And to families across this land with loved ones whose fate is still undetermined, America owes the fullest possible accounting of our prisoners of
war and those missing in action. (Applause.)
Every veteran once stood ready to give all for our country, and they know that a true soldier never welcomes war. This nation loves peace. We work and sacrifice
for peace. Yet America must always be prepared to confront and defeat the enemies of human freedom. (Applause.) And when war is forced upon us, we will see it
through to victory. (Applause.)
At this hour, members of our military are serving on the scattered battlefields of a new kind of war. In Afghanistan and beyond, they're on the trail of killers
who brought death to the innocent and war to our country. That mission will go on until the terrorists who struck America are fully and finally defeated.
(Applause.)
This new kind of war also requires us to confront outlaw regimes that seek and possess the tools of mass murder. We will not permit a dictator who has used
weapons of mass destruction to threaten America with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. This great nation -- (applause) -- this great nation will not live
at the mercy of any foreign plot or power. The dictator of Iraq will fully disarm, or the United States will lead a coalition and disarm
him. (Applause.)
Over the generations, Americans in uniform have defended this nation without seeking to dominate any nation. American troops do not come as conquerors, but as
liberators. (Applause.) We believe in self-government for every land; and we believe that freedom is the hope of people of all cultures. (Applause.)
By standing for freedom today our military follows in a great tradition of courage and faithful service. Free nations are in debt to the long, distinguished line
of American veterans, and all Americans owe our veterans our liberty.
On this Veterans Day, we honor veterans and we honor their families, and we offer the thanks of a grateful nation. May God bless our veterans, and may God
continue to bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END 11:45 A.M. EST
2002
Veterans' Day Message
From the Secretary of the Navy
The Honorable Gordon R. England
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, "Those who have long enjoyed such
privileges as we enjoy, forget in time that men have died to win them."
His words are a caution to all of us to never forget the lives that were given
and the years of service rendered to protect the freedom we hold dear.
This Veterans Day adds new meaning to Roosevelt's wisdom. We are already
at war against terrorism, and our armed forces may be called to action
anywhere and at any time that freedom and human dignity are threatened.
Our history is rich with military men and women who fought for our American
way of life. They knew then what we know now. Americans don't fight for land,
money or religion. But we will fight to protect the principles of freedom -
freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the freedom from oppression.
Today, all veterans are monuments to those freedoms.
As we honor our veterans, let us also honor all who serve today because you
will be our veterans of tomorrow. You protect our nation's interests but, more
importantly, you protect our hopes and dreams. You make us proud while you
make us safe.
On November 11th, share these lessons with your family, friends and neighbors
so all will see this day as much more than a holiday. Let's help them appreciate
the incredible gift Americans are given when one of our brave men and women
takes an oath to protect and defend our country.
To all of you who serve and have served, I thank you. Never underestimate what
you mean to America. For that, a grateful nation also thanks you. I salute you on Veterans Day. God bless America.
-USN-
The United States Navy on the World Wide Web. A service of the Navy Office of Information, Washington DC. The United States Navy web site is found on the
Internet at http://www.navy.mil
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? |
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"ONE NATION UNDER GOD"
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
This is my right
Each day of my life
To honor my Country
In dawns early light
TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The place of my people
Who walked on these shores
Who fought and died for
The colors she bore
AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS
For a nation of many
Who came to be free
Oppressed and all broken
Who sought liberty
ONE NATION UNDER GOD
For power and glory
His name shall remain
We shall not relinquish
His light is our flame
INDIVISIBLE
Each state born together
In power shall reign
With God's hands upon us
Our power remains
WITH LIBERTY
For it is our right
And we shall be strong
To always remember
Where Glory belongs
AND JUSTICE
No panel of judges
Can choose what we say
Our Nation's allegiance
Will not change today
FOR ALL
We watch as these people
Who brought so much pain
Now given the same rights
This Nation ordained
We will not abandon
The rights we all share
God and our Nation
The glory we wear
So wave sacred colors
Of red, white and blue
Stand in allegiance
With God next to you
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