[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[May 28, 2001]
[Pages 588-590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Memorial Day Commemoration in Mesa, Arizona
May 28, 2001
Thank you all very much. Secretary Principi, thank you for agreeing to serve our Nation. Thank you for
your vision and hard work to make sure that those who have worn the
uniform receive the benefits that they are owed. Principi is a good man
who is going to do a fine job on behalf of the American people.
I'm honored to be here with my friend the Governor of the State of
Arizona, Jane Dee Hull; Senator Jon Kyl from the great State of Arizona; Congressman Bob
Stump, the chairman of the Military Affairs
Committee; J.D. Hayworth; and the Congressman
from this district, Jeff Flake.
It's an honor to be here with the commanders of Arizona's military
bases. I'm pleased to be here with the distinguished guests on the
stage. There's one special American here today, a man named Tom
Lockhart, who was a captain in the United
States Air Force, who had the dubious distinction of trying to teach me
how to fly a T-38 aircraft at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. And I'm so
honored my friend, Silver Star winner Tom Lockhart, is with us today as
well.
Before I begin, I do want to ask us to join in a moment of silence
for a veteran who passed away today, the Congressman from the State of
Massachusetts, Congressman Joe Moakley.
Please join me in a moment of silence.
[A moment of silence was observed.]
Thank you very much. Joe loved
America, and he will be sorely missed.
Today's the day we say thanks to many heroes. There's a true hero
who is a Senator from the State of Arizona. He is overseas today, but I
know you all join me in thanking John McCain for
his service, not only to Arizona but to the United States of America.
And no President can pass through Arizona without remembering the great
Arizona statesman who left us 3 years ago, Senator and Major General
Barry Goldwater.
I want to thank you all for coming out. I am so pleased that so many
of your citizens lined the streets and came into this hangar on this
kind of warm Arizona day. [Laughter]
I began this day with a group of veterans at the White House by
signing into law
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a bill to expedite construction of a national World War II Memorial on
The Mall in Washington, DC. I had the honor of bringing one of the two
pens I used to sign the bill with me today and present it to the law's
primary sponsor in the House of Representatives, Congressman Bob
Stump.
Throughout America, we will find monuments to those who served in
that war. The generation of World War II defeated one of history's
greatest tyrannies, leaving graves and freedom from Europe to Asia. In
Phoenix, near your State capital, you keep the anchor of the U.S.S.
Arizona, honoring the men who died on that ship almost 60 years ago. It
is time to build a lasting national memorial to World War II in our
Nation's Capital, and the work begins soon.
I would like all those who served our Nation in World War II, World
War II widows, and World War II orphans to raise their hands so we can
thank you for your service. [Applause] Now you can put them down.
Many veterans of other wars are with us today, Korea, Vietnam, the
cold war, and other conflicts. We're honored by your presence. And we're
honored by the president of the Buffalo Soldiers standing with us today,
as well. And we're especially honored by the presence of several men who
wear the Nation's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. Thank
you all for being here.
Arizona is also home to some veterans of the Navajo Code Talkers
program. In the Pacific theater, these men made a brilliant and
legendary contribution to victory in the Second World War. Countless
American lives were spared because our military could communicate in the
unbreakable code of the Navajo language. In a time of great need, our
country was served bravely and served well by the Navajo.
There are many thousands of veterans in this State. And often
veterans are not eager to look back at their experiences. Hardest of all
is to recall the ones who never lived to be called veterans. But memory
is our duty, and on this day, it is our privilege.
At 3 p.m., in every town, city, village, and hamlet in America,
Americans of all walks of life are pausing for a moment of silence. It
is 3 p.m. in this great State of Arizona. Please join me in a moment of
silence for those who gave their lives to our great Nation.
[A moment of silence was observed.]
God bless.
The heroes we remember never really set out to be heroes. Each loved
his life as much as we love ours. Each had a place in the world, a
family waiting, and friends to see again. They thought of the future,
just as we do, with plans and hopes for a long life. But they left it
all behind when they went to war and parted with it forever when they
died. Every Memorial Day we gather at places like this to grasp the
extent of their loss and the meaning of the sacrifice. It always seems
more than words can cover. In the end, all we can do is be thankful; all
we can do is remember, and always appreciate the price that was paid for
our own lives and our own freedom.
Today, in thousands of towns, Americans have gathered to pay their
own tributes to the men and women who died young, some very young. We
often think of this as one of great national loss, and that is certainly
the case. But for so many, and perhaps many here today, there is one
name among all the others, a name that recalls a different time and
memories held close and quiet. To those who have known such loss and
felt such absence in their life, Memorial Day gives formal expression to
a very personal experience. Your losses can be marked but not measured.
And we can never measure the value of what was gained in their
sacrifice. We live it every day in the comforts of peace and the gifts
of freedom. These have all been purchased for us, and we're grateful for
the sacrifice.
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It's not in our nature to seek out wars and conflicts, but whenever
they have come, when adversaries have left us no alternative, American
men and women have stood ready to take the risks and pay the ultimate
price. People of the same caliber and the same character today fill the
ranks of the All-Volunteer Army of the United States of America. Any foe
who might ever challenge our national resolve would be repeating the
grave error of defeated adversaries. Because this Nation loves peace, we
do not take it for granted. And because we love freedom, we are always
prepared to bear its greatest costs.
I oftentimes see the military folks who serve our Nation so proud
and humbled--to see them in lines of such discipline and training and
preparedness. They're the new generation of America's defenders. They
follow in an unbroken line of good and brave and unfaltering people who
have never let this country down.
Today we honor those who fell from the line, who left us never
knowing how much they would be missed. We pray for them with an
affection that grows deeper with the years. And we remember them, all of
them, with the love of a grateful Nation.
Thank you all for coming, and God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 2:52 p.m. at the Champlin Fighter Aircraft
Museum. H.R. 1696, approved May 28, was assigned Public Law No. 107-11.
The Memorial Day proclamation of May 25 is listed in Appendix D at the
end of this volume.