    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [March 4, 1991]
    [Pages 207-209]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Veterans Service Organizations
    March 4, 1991

        Thank you very much for that warm welcome. Looking at this array of
    speakers up here, I can't imagine there's anything left for me to say,
    because I understand that you have had a briefing from Brent Scowcroft
    and Secretary Cheney and also, of

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    course, heard from our very able Secretary of the Veterans
    Administration, Ed Derwinski. What a tremendous job he's doing for our
    country and for our veterans. And I'm so proud to have him at my side.
        I'm glad to see the familiar faces from so many of our veterans
    organizations--particularly the VFW and the Disabled American Veterans,
    the American Legion--many, many others. I'm going to get in real trouble
    now for--[laughter]--omitting some. But welcome, again; welcome back to
    the White House.
        Let me just begin by giving credit where credit is due. From the day
    that Saddam Hussein first invaded Kuwait, America's veterans stood rock-
    solid, rock-solid behind our troops. You understood from the very
    beginning what was at stake: the rule of law and the cause of freedom.
    You understand that when the forces of aggression arise, America must
    stand ready to do the hard work of freedom.
        You understood because you've been there. And you know how important
    the support of the folks back home is to our troops. Our brave men and
    women, as you have heard, are coming home soon, home to the respect and
    the gratitude of the American people. And let me tell you--they have
    sure earned it.
        I am pleased to say--and you've seen it all in this age of instant
    television communication--that we're making progress in our journey from
    war to peace. The cessation of combat operations that went into effect
    midnight Wednesday is, as you've heard from Dick Cheney, holding--for
    the most part, it is holding. General Schwarzkopf has reported, and then
    the Secretary called me yesterday morning about this, that Sunday's
    desert meeting with the Iraqi commanders really made great progress.
        I liked it--what General Schwarzkopf said on the television when he
    said, ``Look, we're not here to humiliate anybody.'' And then he went
    ahead and laid down the rules that should be fulfilled. And it looks
    like he made great, great progress on that.
        Already 10 coalition POW's, including several Americans, are on
    their way back home. But I'll tell you, I don't think any of us,
    particularly in this audience--and I know I speak for the three up here
    behind me on this stage--can relax at all until every single one of
    those prisoners is home and every single missing is accounted for to the
    best of the ability of the Iraqi forces, and also that the Kuwaiti
    detainees are returned--every single one of them. And that's our goal.
        And clearly, on a sad subject, that requires the returning of the
    remains of all our fallen heroes.
        We've received information on the location of the mine fields in and
    around the theater of operations so that the rebuilding of Kuwait can
    begin safely. And it's my understanding, Dick, that--you told me that he
    got immediate satisfaction on that question of the mine fields. So,
    that's good; that shows some real signs of progress and cooperation.
        Our goal remains what it's been all along: Iraq's complete and
    unconditional compliance with all relevant United Nations resolutions
    and its implementation of all the requirements to be found in Security
    Council Resolution 686, passed overwhelmingly late Saturday afternoon,
    just this past Saturday. This would allow us to move beyond the current
    suspension of military operations to a more permanent and stable cease-
    fire.
        Now, this has been a triumph for the 28 nations united against
    aggression. But as I said in my address to the Nation the final night of
    Kuwait's liberation, this is not a time to gloat or it's not a time to
    brag. It's a time to be proud, fiercely proud--proud of our troops,
    proud of our friends who stood with us, and proud of our people. Their
    strength and perseverance endured that our success was as certain as our
    cause was true.
        We're here today to ensure that our nation always remembers those
    who defended her, the heroic men and women who stood where duty required
    them to stand. And we owe it to our veterans that they return to an
    America confident and full of promise. Much work remains to be done on
    the domestic scene. We've got to tackle that with a new determination.
    But the American people, I am convinced, are up to the job, as they have
    always been.
        Let me close with the words of Abraham Lincoln, who spoke to the
    Nation on this

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    very day, but back in 1865, at the end of a devastating civil war. Here
    was the quote--most remember part of it: ``With malice toward none, with
    charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the
    right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the
    nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and
    for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a
    just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.''
        Those words are inscribed on the marble of the memorial which bears
    Lincoln's name. They were from the President's second inaugural. They
    were a fitting call to honor the Nation's veterans.
        I made a comment right here at this podium the other day about
    shedding the divisions that incurred from the Vietnam war. And I want to
    repeat and say especially to the Vietnam veterans that are here--and I
    just had the pleasure of meeting some in the hall--it's long overdue. It
    is long overdue that we kicked the Vietnam syndrome, because many
    veterans from that conflict came back and did not receive the proper
    acclaim that they deserve--that this nation was divided and we weren't
    as grateful as we should be. So somehow, when these troops come home, I
    hope that message goes out to those that served this country in the
    Vietnam war that we appreciate their service as well.
        I am very grateful to our Secretary of Defense, to the commander of
    our--to the Chairman of our Joint Chiefs, and to our CINC in the field,
    General Schwarzkopf, and to each and every one of them--I expect,
    knowing some of you, that you took the same pride I did in one of our
    GI's when these Iraqis came tearing out to surrender. And they had fear
    written all over their faces because they'd been told that this would be
    their end. And I thought there was something very moving and touching
    when that American sergeant said, ``We're not going to hurt you. We're
    not going to hurt you.''
        And we are a generous nation. And we've got a lot to do now; we've
    got a lot to do to heal the wounds. Our argument has never been with the
    people of Iraq, with those hapless soldiers that were sent to a fate
    that they didn't even know what was in store for them. Our argument has
    been with Saddam Hussein. Our argument has been with a dictator who
    created aggression against a neighbor.
        And so, as we rejoice in our victory, I think we can also rejoice in
    the fact that we are a humble nation--that we have pride, of course, in
    what took place, but we are not gloating. We are not trying to rub it
    in. What we stood for was a principle. And now we've got to stand for
    doing what's right by our veterans, and we've got to stand for doing
    what's right by those countries whose freedom we saved around the world.
        Thank you all for your fantastic support. Isn't it great to be an
    American in these wonderful times?

                        Note: The President spoke at 1:48 p.m. in Room 450
                            of the Old Executive Office Building. In his
                            remarks, he referred to Brent Scowcroft,
                            Assistant to the President for National Security
                            Affairs; Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney;
                            Secretary of Veterans Affairs Edward J.
                            Derwinski; President Saddam Hussein of Iraq;
                            Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the
                            U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf; and Colin L.
                            Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.