    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 25, 1998]
    [Pages 835-837]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia
    May 25, 1998

        Thank you. Secretary Slater, Secretary
    West, Deputy Secretary Gober, National Security Adviser Berger, Congressman Skelton, Secretary
    Dalton, General Shelton, General McCaffrey,
    Superintendent Metzler, Chaplain
    Cooper, the leaders of our veterans
    organizations, veterans, members of the Armed Forces, friends and
    families, my fellow Americans: I would like to begin this Memorial Day
    service in a somewhat unusual fashion but, I think, an entirely
    appropriate one.
        Major General Foley, who just spoke, the
    Commander of the Military District of Washington, is about to move on to
    higher responsibilities. He is, I believe, now the only person still
    serving in uniform to have won the Medal of Honor, which he won for
    repeatedly risking his life for his comrades in Vietnam, and I thank him
    for his service. Thank you, sir; thank you, sir.
        As spring turns to summer, Americans around the Nation take this day
    to enjoy friends and family. But we come again to Arlington to remember
    how much was given so that we could enjoy this day and every day in
    freedom. We come to this sacred ground out of gratitude and profound
    respect for those who are not here but who gave all so that we might be
    here.
        Memorial Day began with our most deadly conflict, the Civil War. To
    this very day, the children of Gettysburg spread flowers over the graves
    of those who fell there. But the debt began to run up, of course, much
    earlier, for our Nation emerged from a war to establish a truly
    revolutionary new society which enshrined life, liberty, and the pursuit
    of happiness as the birthright of all Americans and dedicated our Nation
    to the permanent mission of forming a more perfect Union. To preserve
    and advance those birthrights and that mission, our Founders pledged
    their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor. Those we honor today
    paid the ultimate price to redeem that pledge.
        From the American Revolution onward, from Concord to Khe Sanh to
    Kuwait, America's men and women have stood up for their country. Often
    we have erected monuments to them. Happily, the most recent one is the
    Women in Military Service for America Memorial dedicated here at
    Arlington last October to the 1.8 million women who have served our
    Nation, and we thank them.
        Thanks to these heroes, our Nation, in over 220 years, has grown
    into something truly extraordinary. We have so much to be grateful for
    today: peace, prosperity, the spreading power

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    of our original ideas. For the first time in history, a majority of the
    people on this Earth live under governments of their own choosing. In
    1,000 different languages, people are saying yes to democracy and to a
    new era of international cooperation. Around the world, people are
    struggling to overcome ancient animosities by embracing the idea that if
    we are all equal in God's eyes, then what we have in common surely must
    be more important than our differences of politics, race, or religion.
        Today we are especially grateful for the overwhelming vote for peace
    in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic to which so many of us trace
    our roots.
        As we look toward the future, Memorial Day also invites us to
    remember the past and apply its lessons. Let me recall just two events
    from 50 years ago, at the time when democracy was imperiled by the dawn
    of the cold war. I was recently in Berlin, where we commemorated the
    airlift that supplied 2\1/2\ million people for 11 harrowing months
    between 1948 and 1949. Those were difficult days for freedom, but
    America never soared higher. I would like to salute especially today the
    men and women who participated in that remarkable humanitarian effort, a
    reminder that the will for freedom can always find a way.
        And 50 years ago our Armed Forces helped to promote greater
    democracy at home, too. For it was in the summer of 1948 that President
    Truman ordered the integration of America's Armed Forces because he felt
    strongly that all those willing to risk their lives for our country
    should enjoy the full rights of citizenship. Today, United States troops
    set a shining example of how well different people can work together as
    one.
        As we ask other nations to resolve their differences and as we
    continue to work on the business of resolving ours, we are strengthened
    by the powerful message of hope that comes from our own military, so
    strong in its diversity, giving everyone a chance, holding everyone to
    high standards, meeting every challenge with flying colors, a model for
    the world.
        When you walk out of here today and look once again at all the
    gravestones, imagine that the story of all we have become as a nation is
    written in these hills, each headstone a page of our history. George
    Washington is a part of the history of this hallowed ground. There are
    graves here from the Revolution and every conflict since.
        On these stones are engraved the names of the most famous Americans
    and those who are familiar only to their families and loved ones. On
    each tablet is a name, a date of birth, a date of death, the name of a
    State, a religious symbol, perhaps a few details about rank and
    service--simple facts on simple stones, each standing for a person who
    believed the idea of America was worth fighting for. And all the stones
    standing together are the enduring monument to our greatness and eternal
    promise, including the stones which have no names.
        Eleven days ago a Vietnam veteran was removed from the Tomb of the
    Unknown Soldier. It was the right course of action, because science has
    given us a chance to restore his name and bring comfort to his family,
    and we had to seize it. But whatever happens, we must always remember
    that that stone represents the many unknown soldiers still in Vietnam
    and Korea, in other theaters where Americans lie far away from home,
    missing in action, still with us in spirit. They may be unaccounted for,
    but we must all be accountable for their memories as well.
        We take comfort in something Chaplain Leo Joseph O'Keeffe reminded us of at the ceremony on May 14th, that
    if some names are unknown to us on Earth, all names are known to God in
    heaven. I ask Americans to join me in a moment of remembrance at 3
    o'clock today, eastern daylight time, to honor the known and the unknown
    who gave their all for our Nation.
        And ladies and gentlemen, during that moment we can give special
    thanks on this Memorial Day. Last December we negotiated an agreement
    with North Korea that entitled us to send five teams to their country to
    search for Americans. Early this morning at 2 o'clock, the remains of
    two soldiers believed to be Americans were repatriated to the UN Command
    Honor Guard at Panmunjom on the DMZ. They are coming home this Memorial
    Day.
        I thank all the veterans here today from all the wars of the 20th
    century for giving all of us the chance to be here with you. I think of
    the children here today who will spend most of their lives in the next
    century. The youngest among them will not even remember the 20th
    century. It is possible, with medical advances, that they may glimpse
    the 22d century.

    [[Page 837]]

        For them, we must do our duty to enhance freedom and opportunity at
    home, to strengthen the bonds of our own Union as we grow more diverse,
    to advance the causes of democracy and human rights, prosperity, and
    peace, around the world. We must strengthen our own freedom by
    maintaining America's role in leading the world. That is the central
    lesson of the 20th century: We abdicate responsibility at our peril. To
    do so now would be to renounce the sacrifice of 10 generations of
    Americans.
        Yet often today, we hear voices urging us to abandon our obligations
    to the multinational organizations we did so much to create or to the
    causes of peace we are winning in cooperation with our allies, as in
    Bosnia. Too often we hear calls for actions in our foreign policy which
    would isolate us from our allies without achieving our objectives.
        As the world grows smaller and smaller for the children here and we
    become more and more interconnected with our neighbors in every way, we
    must strengthen the ties that bind free people, work with those who
    share our values and really want to share our burden. Of course, we must
    always be prepared to act alone when our values and our interests demand
    it. But whenever we can, we ought to work with our friends to make a
    better world together.
        We can make the 21st century a century of peace. We can write a new
    chapter of unprecedented possibility and prosperity in our Nation's
    history. In so doing, we can extend the glory of the patriots who lie
    here, missing from our lives but eternally present in our memories. My
    fellow Americans, on this Memorial Day, let us commit ourselves to a
    future worthy of their sacrifice.
        Thank you, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. in the Amphitheater at Arlington
    National Cemetery. In his remarks, he referred to John C. Metzler, Jr.,
    superintendent, Arlington National Cemetery; and Capt. George D. Cooper,
    USN, chaplain, Naval District Washington.