    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [May 29, 1995]
    [Pages 760-762]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia
    May 29, 1995

        Thank you very much, Secretary Perry, Secretary Brown, Major General
    Gorden, Chaplain Cottingham, General and Mrs. Shalikashvili, and to the
    other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their wives, to all the
    members of the Armed Forces who are here, and the veterans, especially
    to the POW's and their family members and the family members of MIA's
    whose sacrifice and service we honored today just a few moments ago with
    the unveiling of the special stamp in honor of POW's and MIA's, and of
    course, to Sergeant Major Rodriguez and Mrs. Rodriguez.
        Sergeant Major, if you had known 50 years ago you were going to be
    here today and had 50 years to get ready, you could not have done

    [[Page 761]]

    any better job than you did, and we thank you. This fine American was
    decorated by President Roosevelt with the Purple Heart for his action in
    combat on Iwo Jima. He later led an honor guard for President Truman. He
    represents the vital ties to the past that inspires us today, and we
    thank him and all others for their service.
        Today we feel close to that past and to all those who stood fast
    when our freedom was in peril 50 years ago. We remember the valiant
    individuals from all of our wars who fell while defending our Nation.
    They fought so that we might have the freedom which too many of us take
    for granted but, at least on this day, we know is still our greatest
    blessing.
        At this sacred moment, we put aside all that might otherwise divide
    us to recall the honor that these men and women brought to their
    families and their communities and the glory they bestowed upon our
    beloved Nation. All across our great country today, in cities and towns
    great and small, wreaths and flags adorn our cemeteries. Friends and
    family members and those who simply are grateful for their liberties
    will gather for a parade or visit the graves of some of these heroes,
    tell a new generation the stories of how America was kept free and
    strong. We must remember to do justice to their memories. We must
    remember that so we can go forward.
        Especially in this last year, the 50th since World War II, we
    Americans have remembered and paid homage to the generation that fought
    that great struggle in ceremonies in Normandy, at Nettuno Beach in
    Italy, at Cambridge Cemetery in England, the Manila Cemetery in the
    Philippines, the Iwo Jima Memorial here in Arlington, and in Moscow.
        As we look across the gulf of time and look at the veterans of that
    conflict who still are among us, we continue to draw strength from their
    marvelous achievement. We remember anew the indomitable power of free
    men and women united by a just cause.
        Fifty years ago today, the war in Europe was over. American armed
    forces worked to restore order to a wrecked continent, taking charge of
    shattered communities, tending to the survivors of the awful
    concentration camps. But the celebration of victory was short because
    our battle-weary Nation was shifting troops and energies from one
    theater to another. Little was certain. Virtually every household still
    had someone in uniform, and no one could say even then who would
    survive.
        In the Pacific war, fighting raged on in the Philippines. Okinawa,
    the bloodiest battle in the Far East, was already almost 2 months old
    and far, far from over. By the time it ended on June 22, that small
    island would claim the lives of more than 12,000 Americans.
        Still, our forces never faltered. Half a world away from their
    homes, far from their families, they fought for their country, their
    loved ones, and for the ideals that have kept this country going now for
    more than 200 years. They knew their mission was unparalleled in human
    history: to fight for freedom, for democracy, and for human dignity all
    the world over. In those distant places and harrowing times, ordinary
    people performed extraordinary deeds.
        Many who fell there are now here in Arlington, in this hallowed
    ground. We come here to honor their sacrifice, to give them thanks for
    safeguarding our homes and our liberties and for giving us another 50
    years of freedom. But we also come here because we understand what they
    fought for. Here, among the dead, in the perfect rows of stone, we see
    the life of America for which they sacrificed so much.
        Four graves around here today tell a good story. Right over there,
    down Grant Drive, is the grave of Colonel Justice Chambers of the United
    States Marine Corps Reserve. For his extraordinary courage in taking
    vital high ground during the landing on Iwo Jima, he was awarded the
    Congressional Medal of Honor. Just next to him lies Lieutenant Commander
    Barbara Allen Rainey. She was the mother of two daughters and the Navy's
    first female aviator. She died in a plane crash in 1982. Further down
    the walk lies the grave of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr., known
    throughout the world as the first person ever to fly over the North
    Pole. And next to him lies General Daniel ``Chappie'' James, a Tuskegee
    Airman who flew nearly 200 combat missions, a pilot in Korea and Vietnam
    as well. He rose through the ranks to become the first African-American
    four-star general.
        These four were very different in race and gender, service and
    generation. But they were united in their service to America. Together,
    their lives are proof of perhaps our greatest American truth: that a
    nation of many really can be brought forth as one. Together, they show
    the tremendous strength that not only our Armed Forces but our entire
    Nation has drawn

    [[Page 762]]

    from our remarkable diversity. They remind us of the riches our
    democracy creates by bringing the benefits of liberty to all Americans,
    regardless of their race or gender or station in life. They remind us of
    why so many have sacrificed so much for the American idea.
        Today, more than ever, we rededicate ourselves to the vision for
    which they live. Generations before ours met challenges to democracy and
    freedom, defeated the threats of fascism and communism, and now it is
    for us to rise to the new challenges posed by the forces of darkness and
    disintegration in this age at home and abroad.
        In an uncertain world, we still know we must maintain armed forces
    that are the best-trained, best-equipped, and best-prepared in the
    world. That is the surest guarantee of our security and the surest
    guarantee that we will not repeat the mistakes of the past, when America
    disarmed encouraged people to abuse the decent liberties we all are
    willing to fight for.
        Now, we must finish the security work of the last 50 years by ending
    the nuclear threat once and for all. I am very proud of the fact, and I
    know all of you are, that today, we and the Russians are destroying the
    weapons of our nuclear arsenal and that for the first time since the
    dawn of the nuclear age, no Russian missiles are pointed at the people
    of the United States of America. I am proud of the fact that the nations
    of the world recently voted to extend indefinitely the Non-Proliferation
    Treaty and that Russia and the other states of the former Soviet Union
    and the United States were on the same side, asking countries to
    forswear ever developing nuclear weapons.
        I know we have more to do in trying to stem the proliferation of
    biological and chemical weapons and to defeat the forces of terrorism
    around the world. No free country is immune from them. But we can do
    this, and we must.
        In honor of all those who have fallen, from the dawn of our Nation
    to this moment, we resolve to uphold not only their memories but their
    ideals: the vision of America, free and strong, conferring the benefits
    of our beloved land on all our citizens. They sacrificed so that we
    could do this.
        Our debt is, therefore, to continue freedom's never-ending work, to
    build a Nation worthy of all those who fell for it, to pass to coming
    generations all that we have inherited and enjoyed. This must be our
    common purpose: to make sure all Americans are able to make the most of
    their freedoms and their God-given abilities and still, still, to
    reaffirm our conviction that we are, from many, one.
        And so we go forth from this place today, remembering the lives of
    people like Chambers, Rainey, Byrd, and James. From their example, let
    us carry forth that passion and let us strengthen our national unity.
        God bless you all, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:32 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery.