[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[November 11, 1996]
[Pages 2106-2108]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Veterans Day Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia
November 11, 1996

    Thank you. Thank you very much, Secretary Brown, for your 
introduction and for the service that you, Deputy Secretary Gober, and 
all of the men and women of the Department of Veterans Affairs render to 
our Nation every day. I thank Commander Zweiman for his remarkable 
address this morning, and I congratulate him on the 100th anniversary of 
the Jewish War Veterans of America. Thank you, sir.
    To the distinguished leaders of our veterans' organizations; all the 
veterans who are here; the Gold Star mothers; the Gold Star wives; Major 
General Foley; all the members of the Cabinet who are here; the Joint 
Chiefs; the men and women in uniform, their families, and my fellow 
Americans.
    Today on this hallowed hillside and all across our great land, we 
pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of our veterans, all those who 
followed our flag in war and peace, those who gave their lives, and 
those who came home. Each of us owes to all of them a debt we can never 
fully repay. The inscription on the Korean war memorial says, ``Freedom 
is not free.'' For more than two centuries, our armed services have 
defended our freedom and made our Nation a beacon of hope for the world.
    I'd like to take a moment in this special time for Americans to 
recognize the special contribution that one American veteran in 
particular has made to our Nation. Bob Dole was a 21-year-old 2d 
lieutenant serving in the Po Valley of Italy when a German shell struck 
him down in battle. He would bear the burden of his severe injury from 
that day forward for the rest of his life. But he refused to withdraw 
from the world and instead dedicated his life to serving the American 
people. I ask all of you here now to join me in applauding his 
remarkable record of achievement and patriotism to America. [Applause]
    Today we thank God that America is at peace, but our freedom still 
comes at a cost. It depends upon the untiring efforts of the one and a 
half million men and women in our Armed Forces who defend our Nation, 
protect our interests, advance our ideals: keeping the peace in Bosnia, 
enforcing the no-fly zone in Iraq, standing watch over the DMZ on the 
Korean Peninsula, promoting stability and peace in Haiti. And beyond the 
headlines and hot spots, our service men and women are working every 
day, from Diego Garcia to Guam, to keep our forces strong and our 
readiness razor-sharp. Standing tall with them are the Guard and the 
Reserves, whose citizen soldiers proudly trace their lineage all the way 
back to the colonial Minutemen.

[[Page 2107]]

    All those who serve our Nation deserve our strongest support. They 
must have the best training, the finest equipment, access to the newest 
technologies. And those who do go into battle for our Nation must never 
be left behind. And so we continue to pursue the fullest possible 
accounting for those Americans who are still missing.
    Those who serve in uniform deserve every chance to build good lives 
as private citizens. And so we must offer our veterans and their 
families every opportunity to live their dreams, helping them to improve 
their educations, find good jobs, buy homes, protect their health.
    This commitment extends to pursuing answers and providing relief for 
Gulf war veterans with unexplained illnesses. This issue was first 
brought to my attention by the First Lady as she traveled across America 
and veterans and their family members came up and talked to her of their 
personal experiences. Last year I appointed an independent Presidential 
advisory commission to address the health concerns of Persian Gulf 
veterans, their spouses and children. This commission will report its 
findings by year's end.
    I want to assure all of you that we will leave no stone unturned in 
our efforts to investigate these cases and to provide our Gulf war 
veterans with the medical care they need. Tens of thousands of 
examinations have been performed; 26,000 determinations of disability 
have been made. There are many research projects now underway. There are 
mysteries still unanswered, and we must do more. But the United States 
will not forget the people who have served us, and we will discharge our 
obligations to those who served in the Persian Gulf.
    Today we remember and honor the past service of America's veterans. 
And today we renew our commitment to meet the challenges of America's 
future for which they gave so much. Almost two centuries ago, Daniel 
Webster said in his dedication of the monument at Bunker Hill, ``There 
remains to us a great duty of defense and preservation. And there is 
open to us, also, a noble pursuit to which the spirit of the times 
strongly invites us.''
    My fellow Americans, on the brink of a new century, we stand before 
broad new vistas of hope and progress. But if we are to realize our 
hopes for that future, we must ensure that America remains the world's 
strongest force for peace and freedom, for security and prosperity. We 
must strengthen and expand the alliances that have brought us thus far. 
We must continue to reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass 
destruction. We must confront the violent conflicts rooted in ethnic, 
religious, and racial hatreds that so bedevil the world today. We must 
stop the global scourges of organized crime, drug trafficking, and 
especially terrorism. We must build an open trading system for the 21st 
century, and we must stand with all those who stand for democracy and 
universal human rights.
    I cannot help but note on this day that in our time, for the first 
time in the entire history of humanity on this planet, more than half 
the world's people live in democratically elected governments because of 
the example and the force and the power of the ideas of America and the 
sacrifice of America's veterans.
    Let me also say that, as we meet the challenges of the next century, 
our unity as a people will be, as it has ever been, our greatest 
strength. The silent white rows of crosses that surround us mark the 
final resting place of men and women of all services, all ranks, all 
races, all religions. They stand as stunning evidence that our Founders 
were right: We are all equal in the eyes of God. That is something we 
must continue to practice until we get it right. It is something we must 
teach our children, and it is something we must continue to teach to 
those troubled areas of the rest of the world where people still insist 
on killing over their differences.
    Our American veterans buried here came from different walks of life. 
They served our Nation in different places and in different ways. Yet 
all were united by love of country, belief in freedom and opportunity 
and responsibility, and their faith in America's future. As we 
commemorate this day of reverence and respect, let us also remember this 
unity of spirit that has guided our Nation forward from its beginnings. 
No words can repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the men and women who 
have stood up for our freedom, but we can honor the memory of our 
veterans best by remaining the best kind of Americans we can be and 
keeping our Nation strong and secure, one Nation under God, to fulfill 
the vision of a better world that so many of them, our veterans, gave so 
much to create.
    Thank you, and God bless America.

[[Page 2108]]

Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. at the Amphitheater at Arlington 
National Cemetery. In his remarks, he referred to Robert Zweiman, 
national commander, Jewish War Veterans of the USA, and Maj. Gen. Robert 
F. Foley, USA, Commanding General, U.S. Army Military District of 
Washington.