[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[March 15, 1994]
[Pages 467-468]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 467]]


Remarks to Soldiers and Their Families at Fort Drum, New York
March 15, 1994

    Thank you for the wonderful welcome. Thank you for this beautiful, 
beautifully decorated place of welcome. Thank you for letting the band 
play ``Yakety Sax.'' That was an interesting little twist. And thank you 
for letting me sit next to a distinguished soldier who was from my 
hometown; our grandparents knew each other. Command Sergeant Major 
Johnson, stand up. You know, we were sitting back there talking, he was 
looking at me thinking, ``I don't know about you, Mr. President, but 
I've come a long way.'' [Laughter]
    I thank all of you for being here. I also want to acknowledge the 
presence in the audience today of the Lieutenant Governor of New York, 
Lieutenant Governor Stan Lundine, and Congressman John McCue from this 
district. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here.
    I also want to thank the eight couples that are here behind me and 
Major Tony Smart, who was sitting up there with me. The nine of them 
gathered over at General and Mrs. Meade's house a few moments ago to 
talk to me about what it was like to be in Somalia and what it was like 
to be the family members left behind. They represented you wonderfully 
well. I loved my time with them. And it must not have been all that easy 
for them to do, but they were terrific. I'd like for you to acknowledge 
them all. [Applause]
    I thank General Meade for his welcome and General Shali for his fine 
remarks.
    You know, this is a great day, but it is March 15th and there's 
still a couple of feet of snow on the ground up here. I know that there 
are a fair number of men and women in our Armed Forces who come from the 
southern part of the United States. When I realized you'd had 160 inches 
of snow, 26 days in January below zero, one day at 43 degrees below 
zero--that's real temperature, not wind chill--I'm surprised we have 
anybody who didn't go to Somalia. [Laughter] I'm surprised anybody 
stayed behind. Some of the ladies who were meeting with me said that 
shoveling the snow was maybe a harder duty than their husbands had to 
endure. But I'm glad to be here. I thank you for the hat. Look at my 
nice tie, here. It's your tie. I will wear it with pride.
    It's also a privilege for me to welcome back ``Triple Deuce'' today. 
I say on behalf of all the American people, thank you, job well done and 
welcome home.
    Fifteen months ago, our troops went to Somalia to help stop one of 
the great human tragedies of our time. Already 300,000 people, many of 
them little children like those here in this audience, had died of 
starvation and disease; twice as many were in danger of dying very 
quickly. Relief supplies were rotting on the docks of Mogadishu, hostage 
to a small number of armed Somalis.
    To help relieve this suffering, our Nation acted. President Bush 
deployed 28,000 American troops in support of a United Nations 
humanitarian mission. It was after the election, I was coming in, and I 
gave him my full support. Joining with other soldiers and relief workers 
from around the world, our troops helped restore hope and save hundreds 
of thousands from certain death. This proud division, the same division 
that helped the citizens of Florida rebuild after Hurricane Andrew, 
knows something about restoring hope. I saw some of you there, too.
    Today, in Somalia, the crops are growing; food and medicine are 
flowing; roads, schools, and clinics have reopened. No longer are 
thousands of children dying every day. Leaders are sitting down today at 
peace talks in Nairobi. You helped make all that possible. And by March 
25th, a week ahead of schedule, the last American military units in 
Somalia will be heading back to their loved ones and home.
    There are those who will say we have not done everything that could 
have been done because Somalia has not yet found an enduring peace, 
because factions continue to fight for advantage, indifferent to the 
deadly chaos they threatened to recreate. But never forget, because of 
your efforts and the efforts of so many others, the starvation has ended 
and the Somali people have been given a serious chance to build their 
own future. That is all we or anyone else can provide. We cannot rebuild 
other people's societies. You have given them a chance to seize their 
own future. That is what we do in the United States, and that is what 
others must do as well. You have given them that

[[Page 468]]

chance, and for that, the world should be grateful to you.
    Let me say that we must honor not only those who returned hale and 
healthy but also those who came home wounded and those who did not 
return. I met in Walter Reed Hospital one of your numbers, Sergeant 
Chris Reid, a very brave and terribly impressive soldier who is still in 
the hospital nursing his wounds. And I know that our prayers, all of our 
prayers are with him.
    Just yesterday an American AC-130 crashed off the coast of Kenya on 
its way to Somalia and several of the crew members perished. On behalf 
of all the American people, let me express our sympathy to the loved 
ones of those who were lost in that accident.
    On Veterans Day I had the honor of meeting three other members of 
your great division, Specialists Michael Carroll and Duane Bevitt and 
Lieutenant Colonel Egon Hawrylack. They came to the White House. I 
thought I deserve a cheer for pronouncing his name right. [Applause] Let 
me tell you, they came to the White House, those three people, with some 
others who served there, with a simple message. They said, ``We are 
proud of what we did.''
    When most of our troops came home last May, General Robert Johnston 
came to the White House, and he said this about you and your colleagues 
who served in Somalia: ``A lot of 18- and 19-year-old men and women in 
uniform,'' he said, ``demonstrated enormous discipline, good judgment, 
and a good deal of patience in performing a rather unique mission.'' 
That is putting it mildly. People who were not there do not know how 
much patience was required on how many circumstances under difficult, 
difficult conditions. And General Johnston said, ``I don't think any 
other country in the world could have done what we did.'' I say that is 
true, and we are all proud of what you did.
    In this new era, you all know that we may ask our military to 
undertake a range of missions, fighting aggression in the Gulf, helping 
to contain the conflict in the Balkans, working to build a democratic 
peace in Europe through NATO's Partnership For Peace. But whatever the 
setting, our people in uniform carry the same message of strength and 
hope and freedom. That's why our forces must always be the best trained, 
the best equipped, the best prepared in the world, and the people with 
the best spirit, the best morale, and the deepest conviction--people 
like you. That is my commitment, to keep you there and keep you strong.
    I want to say one other word about the mission in Somalia. General 
Shalikashvili just described that work as a great victory as measured in 
the thousands and hundreds of thousands of children and men and women 
who are alive today. In that sense, the mission you undertook was 
without precedent. American soldiers did not go to Somalia to conquer 
but on a mission of mercy, a mission accomplished, a mission to be proud 
of. Let history also record that here at Fort Drum and at other bases 
across our Nation that it was not just the troops who earned their 
stripes but the spouses, the families, the children, the civilian 
colleagues and the communities.
    I want to say again, I am profoundly grateful to all the families 
and all the family support groups and all the civilians who made this 
possible. And these fine people behind me, who spent about an hour 
talking to me today, taught me things and made me see things and 
understand things from your point of view that I could never have 
learned otherwise. I am in your debt, and I believe I will be a better 
President and a better Commander in Chief because of the time they spent 
to share your lives, your experiences, and your hopes with me. I thank 
them for that, and I thank you for that.
    Finally, let me say, if there are any debates still to be had about 
our mission in Somalia, let people have those debates with me, but let 
there be no debate about how you carried out the mission. You answered 
the call. You did your job. You served your country wonderfully well. 
More than that no one can ask. So to all the American men and women who 
have served with honor in this difficult and dangerous mission, I say 
you have shown the world what Americans are made of. Your Nation is 
grateful, and your President is terribly, terribly proud of you.
    Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 6:02 p.m. in the soldiers' gym.