    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [June 8, 1991]
    [Pages 626-627]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Memorial Service in Arlington, Virginia, for Those Who Died
    in the Persian Gulf Conflict
    June 8, 1991

        We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to
    their nation and to the ideal of freedom during Operation Desert Storm.
    All across our land people celebrate our victory in that war, and
    there's a new and wonderful feeling in America. Later today--they're
    already started--crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly
    from Washington to the Pentagon in a grand parade. But war also deserves
    quiet, sober remembrance. And here in this quiet place we can offer
    humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's
    call and never returned.
        I think we all admire this place, its sloping hills and grasses and
    the trees--no hype. Heard a bird sing a minute ago. We confront
    mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate
    today gave up life for principles larger than each of us, principles
    that at the same time form the muscle and strength of our national
    heart.
        Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the most ennobling virtues of man:
    faith, courage, fortitude, and sacrifice. He knew that America grew
    out of brave men's dreams of

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    a commonwealth of freedom, of virtue. He knew that America endures
    because it dares to defend that dream. That dream links the fields of
    Flanders and the cliffs of Normandy, Korea's snow-covered uplands and
    the rice paddies of the Mekong. It's lived in the last year on barren
    desert flats, on sea-tossed ships, in jets streaking miles above hostile
    terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset--our
    sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our husbands and wives--
    the finest troops any country has ever had.
        The heroes of Desert Storm and Desert Shield came from all across
    this country: towns of Mississippi, tenements of New York, the plains of
    America's giant, sprawling checkerboard that is our country. They were
    rural and urban; they were native, they were foreign-born; black and
    white, red and brown; privileged and poor. And they were our best.
        Far away they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. And then they
    set an embattled nation free. And they went to the Gulf not because it
    was the expedient way but because it was the American way. Through their
    sacrifice as they caused brutal aggression to fall, they renewed our
    faith in ourselves.
        From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew up
    between Americans here at home and those that were serving in the Gulf.
    Just think of the yellow ribbons that joined this nation's hands and
    souls. Think of how the American family has perhaps never been more
    united. We prayed for the heroes of the Gulf and for the unsung heroes,
    the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will
    they be immortalized in statues or monuments. And yet, in little
    kindnesses and deeds they reached out to each other, neighbor to
    neighbor, often stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings; in
    essence, they gave brotherhood.
        Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf war an historic war.
    Spouses, children, parents, friends--all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson
    said, ``War is a dramatic symbol of a thousand forms of duty.'' The
    enemies of peace, the brutal aggressors, could not match the combined
    prayers of 250 million Americans and the collective courage of half a
    million troops who knew that aggression must not stand.
        Today we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. So,
    let me close with a story of how a woman, Debbie Wyatt, returned from
    naval duty in the Gulf. As her three young children leaped into her
    arms, crying and hugging her, a reporter asked her if she'd do it again.
    And she replied simply, ``I'd go back tomorrow if my country called.'' I
    don't know how anyone can fail to tremble in joy and admiration and awe
    upon hearing her reply. Answering the call made others free, and
    answering the call has kept us free. Today we hope that this time was
    the last time, that we stand prepared to respond again should there ever
    be a next time. Our goal is real peace--the triumph of freedom, not
    merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage and character of the
    American people.
        So, let us remember the heroes of the Gulf, those with us, those who
    gave their life--as the sergeant so beautifully sang, ``The Last Full
    Measure of Devotion''--so that mankind will say: Just as they honored
    America, we honored them with the lives we lead.
        God bless them, and may God bless the United States of America.

                        Note: The President spoke at 9:38 a.m. in the
                            amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. T.
                            Sgt. Thomas Steckhard, USAF, sang ``The Last
                            Full Measure of Devotion'' prior to the
                            President's remarks.