    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [August 31, 1995]
    [Pages 1273-1275]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Arrival in Honolulu, Hawaii
    August 31, 1995

        Thank you very much. Sergeant May, thank you for that introduction,
    and more importantly, thank you for your service. Governor Cayetano,
    Senator Inouye, Mayor Harris, General Lorber, Admiral Macke, members of
    the armed service, distinguished guests, honored veterans, Senator
    Akaka, Congressman Abercrombie, ladies and gentlemen: It is wonderful
    for our family and for me personally to be back in Hawaii. It is a great
    honor to be here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of World
    War II.
        We come to celebrate the courage and determination of the Americans
    who brought us victory in that war. But as we do, our thoughts and
    prayers must also be with the men and women of our Armed Forces who are
    putting their bravery and their professionalism on the line in Bosnia.
        I want to restate to you and to all the American people why our
    forces and their NATO allies are engaged in the military operation
    there. The massacre of civilians in Sarajevo on

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    Monday, caused by a Bosnian Serb shell, was an outrageous act in a
    terrible war and a challenge to the commitments which NATO had made to
    oppose such actions by force if necessary. The United States took the
    lead in gaining those commitments by NATO, and we must help NATO to keep
    them.
        The NATO bombing campaign and the related artillery campaign against
    the Bosnian Serb military in which our forces are taking part skillfully
    is the right response to the savagery in Sarajevo. The campaign will
    make clear to the Bosnian Serbs that they have nothing to gain and
    everything to lose by continuing to attack Sarajevo and other safe areas
    and by continuing to slaughter innocent civilians. NATO is delivering
    that message loud and clear. And I hope all of you are proud of the role
    that the members of the United States Armed Forces are playing in
    delivering that message.
        The war in Bosnia must end, but not on the battlefield, rather at
    the negotiating table. Just 2 weeks ago, we lost three of our finest
    American diplomatic representatives in a tragic accident in Bosnia as
    they were working for a negotiated peace. Today our negotiating team
    continues its work as well. And in the skies above Bosnia, our pilots
    and crews and their colleagues from other NATO countries are risking
    their lives for the same peace. We are proud of those who fly and those
    who are seeking to negotiate the peace.
        Ladies and gentlemen, it is only fitting that we begin to
    commemorate this 50th anniversary of the end of World War II here at
    Hickam Air Force Base, for it was here, right here, that the guns of war
    shattered the peace of our land and drew America into the fight for
    freedom.
        Looking out at the active duty troops who are with us today,
    representatives of the greatest fighting force in the world, standing
    watch for freedom all over the world, it is hard to imagine just how far
    our Nation had to come to win World War II. Just before 8 o'clock on
    December the 7th, 1941, when the first wave of enemy bombers swooped
    down upon our planes, parked wingtip to wingtip on this tarmac, all 231
    aircraft at Hickam were either destroyed or damaged. At Pearl Harbor, as
    all of us know all too well, the pride of the Pacific's fleet lay in
    ruins.
        But just a few hours later, just a few hours later, in the depth of
    our darkest hour, a handful of Army and Navy planes that were still able
    to fly took to the skies from Hickam in search of the enemy fleet. The
    long journey to reclaim freedom for the Pacific and for the world began
    with that first mission from this very field. And it ended 50 years ago
    this week when the forces of freedom finally triumphed over tyranny.
        In the days ahead, we will commemorate that victory, honor its
    heroes, and remember their sacrifice. But we will also celebrate more
    than the end of war; we will pay tribute to the triumph of peace.
    Through war in World War II, our people came together as never before.
    But after the war, they used their newfound sense of unity and common
    purpose at home and a sense of mission abroad to build for all of us 50
    years of security, prosperity, and opportunity.
        Today, we turn toward a new century, in a very different set of
    economic and political and social challenges. We now must draw on the
    legacy of those who won World War II and built peace and prosperity
    afterward to do our job to fulfill the spirit of that most remarkable of
    American generations. They understood the duty they owed to one another,
    to their communities, to their Nation, and to the world. After they won
    the war, they advanced the peace, the values, the liberties, and the
    opportunities that they fought and died to win.
        Here on this island of peace that knows all too well the horror of
    war, let us vow to carry forward their legacy. The World War II
    generation taught us that when the American people find strength in
    their diversity and unity in a common purpose, when we stop arguing
    about our differences and start embracing what we have in common,
    nothing, nothing, can stop us. And so I say to you, if we apply the
    lessons that the World War II generation handed down to us to the
    challenges of the 21st century, nothing will stop us.
        Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America.
        Thank you very much. And now, as we proceed with the program, I
    would like to introduce and call forward for some remarks my friend and
    colleague, your distinguished Governor, Governor Ben Cayetano.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:17 p.m. at Hickam Air Force Base. In his
    remarks, he referred to Robert May, World War II veteran and founder of
    the 11th Bomb Group Association; Gov. Benjamin J. Cayetano of Hawaii;
    Gen. John

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    Lorber, USAF, Commander, Pacific Air Forces; Adm. Richard C. Macke, USN,
    Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command; and Mayor Jeremy Harris of
    Honolulu.