    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [November 26, 1996]
    [Pages 2155-2156]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
    November 26, 1996

        Thank you. Thank you very much. You may have noticed from the news,
    I'm a little hoarse. But if you will be patient with me, I will try to
    say what is in my mind and heart for you.
        First, Governor and Mrs. Knowles, General Gamble, Colonel Lake,
    Mayor Mystrom, Lieutenant Governor Ulmer, to the other distinguished
    leaders of our Air Force and Army who are here. All of you know that
    when I tell you I just couldn't go home without stopping here, I'm
    telling the truth. [Laughter]
        I guess I could go home without seeing you, but that would be my
    loss. Hillary and I look forward so much to the opportunities we have to
    come here to see the people who serve our Nation, who serve particularly
    in the Asia-Pacific region where I have just spent a number of days in
    Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand, and to see your families. I
    want to thank you for what you do. I want to tell you that, once again,
    I see from my talks with leaders throughout the world how important our
    leadership in this region is for peace, for stability, for prosperity
    and how much people all over the Asia-Pacific region look to you, trust
    you, believe in you, and see America in you. I thank you for that, and
    you should be very, very proud.
        As Hillary and I go home for Thanksgiving we'll be giving special
    thanks this year, because it's Military Family Appreciation Week, for
    the families of our men and women in uniform throughout the world. From
    Bosnia to the Middle East, to Haiti, to the DMZ in Korea, here in
    Alaska, and in countries throughout the

    [[Page 2156]]

    world, in bases all over the United States, I have seen the sacrifices
    and the support of our military families. I'm so grateful to all of you
    who have brought your children here today. I hope I get to shake hands
    with as many of them as possible. Those of you in the back who have your
    children on your shoulders, I thank you for that. I hope they will
    always remember that their parents served their country with pride and
    honor and that they had a chance to see the President thank their
    parents for their service.
        To all of you in our families--I know here at Elmendorf alone there
    are 10,000 dependents--I know that the national security would not be
    possible without you. I was so moved by General McCaffrey's story of his
    own experience. I have seen that in military support families, in
    accidents which cost the lives of our military personnel, and in losses
    in active-duty service. But every day I see it in the support you give
    in countless ways to make it possible for families to stay together, for
    children to be raised properly, for families to support each other so
    that our country can be properly defended.
        So on this Thanksgiving Day, for all of our many blessings--and I've
    got a lot of things to be thankful for, including having my contract
    renewed--[laughter]--I want you to know when our family, including a lot
    of our extended family, gathers on Thursday at Camp David, we will be
    thanking God for all of you who make our country the greatest, strongest
    force for freedom in human history.
        God bless you, and thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:17 p.m. Alaska time (after crossing the
    international dateline) in Hangar One. In his remarks, he referred to
    Gov. Tony Knowles of Alaska and his wife, Susan; Lt. Gen. Patrick K.
    Gamble, USAF, Commander, Alaskan Command; Col. William J. Lake, USAF,
    Commander, 3d Wing; Mayor Rick Mystrom of Anchorage; Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer
    of Alaska; and Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, USA (Ret.), Director, Office of
    National Drug Control Policy.