    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [August 30, 2005]
    [Pages 1373-1378]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the 60th Anniversary of V-J Day in San Diego, California
    August 30, 2005

        Thank you all. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be back in
    California; good to be here at North Island. This is the birthplace of
    naval aviation, and I want to thank you for making this son of a naval
    aviator feel right at home.
        This morning our hearts and prayers are with our fellow citizens
    along the gulf coast who have suffered so much from Hurricane Katrina.
    These are trying times for the people of these communities. We know that
    many are anxious to return to their homes. It's not possible at this
    moment. Right now our priority is on saving lives, and we are still in
    the midst of search and rescue operations. I urge everyone in the
    affected areas to continue to follow instructions from State and local
    authorities.
        The Federal, State, and local governments are working side by side
    to do all we can to help people get back on their feet, and we have got
    a lot of work to do. Our teams and equipment are in place, and we're
    beginning to move in the help that people need. Americans who wish to
    help can call 1-800-HELP-NOW, or log on to redcross.org, or get in touch
    with the Salvation Army. The good folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and
    Alabama and other affected areas are going to need the help and
    compassion and prayers of our fellow citizens.
        As we deliver relief to our citizens to the south, our troops are
    defending all our citizens from threats abroad. In the war on terror,
    all of you gathered here today are playing a critical role. Our naval
    aviators are displaying their fantastic skill in bringing justice to our
    enemies. Our sailors on Navy ships are patrolling the high seas. You're
    maintaining those ships and keeping them ready for battle. You're
    serving on special operations teams that are hunting the Taliban and Al
    Qaida fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan. And our Marine units are
    bringing our terrorists to justice in Iraq. However you are serving,
    each of you is defending our Nation and bringing honor to the uniform,
    and your Commander in Chief and your country is proud of your service.
        I'm also proud to stand with those whose achievements we commemorate
    today, the military veterans of World War II. In war, America called you
    from your farms and your schools and your factories to defeat two of the
    most ruthless armies the world has known. In victory, America counted on
    you to extend a helping hand, to lift up a defeated foe. And in a
    lasting peace that has been your greatest legacy, America confirmed the
    power of freedom to transform the bitterest of enemies into the closest
    of friends.
        Your victory came at great cost, and many of the heroes who fought
    by your side would not live to make the return journey home. More than
    400,000 Americans gave their lives in that war, and some of them are
    buried a few miles from here at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. At a
    funeral sermon delivered after a battle that had taken the lives of
    thousands of Americans, a rabbi said, ``Out of this, and from this
    suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come, we promise, the
    birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere.''
        Today, your hair is whitened. Your steps have slowed. Yet you have
    seen, in your lifetime, the rabbi's promise come true. The freedom that
    was born of your sacrifice has lifted millions of God's children across
    the Earth. This freedom is your monument to your fallen friends, your
    gift to their children and grandchildren, and your sacred bond with
    generations of patriots past and present who have worn the Nation's
    uniform.

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        As we look into your faces, we see the same quiet resolve that
    defeated our enemies, and we count it a privilege to be the citizens of
    the country that you served. We pray that your comrades you have lost
    found peace with their Creator, and we honor your sacrifice by
    recommitting ourselves to the great ideals for which you fought and
    bled.
        I'm honored today to be traveling with the First Lady of the United
    States, Laura Bush. I want to thank Admiral
    Zortman, the commander of the Naval Air
    Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, for his introduction. And thank you for your
    service, Admiral.
        I'm proud to be here today with a man who is doing an excellent job
    for the United States military, the Secretary of Defense, Donald
    Rumsfeld. On V-J Day in 1945, Secretary
    Rumsfeld was selling newspapers at the Coronado Ferry, Coronado,
    California. He went on to be a Navy pilot. And today, he's a trusted
    adviser in my Cabinet. Mr. Secretary, proud to have you here.
        I want to thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Duncan
    Hunter. Congressman Hunter is with us
    today. Congressman Duncan Hunter is, today, here with his dad, Robert
    Hunter, who served in World War II. And he has
    a son who is a proud marine in Iraq.
        I want to thank Secretary Tom Johnson of
    the California Department of Veteran Affairs. I want to thank Mayor Tom
    Smisek and his wife, Peggy. He's the mayor of Coronado. I appreciate you, Mr.
    Mayor.
        I want to thank Vice Admiral Barry Costello, Rear Admiral Mike Miller,
    Rear Admiral Len Hering, Captain
    Tim Alexander. I want to thank
    Command Master Chief Mick Fulton,
    Chief Petty Officer Swisher. I want to thank
    all the men and women who wear the uniform for greeting us today.
        We're proud to be in the company of Medal of Honor recipients Robert
    Modrzejewski, Jay Vargas, Red Millett, John Finn, John
    McGinty. Thank you for coming. Thank
    you for your courage.
        Finally, I want to thank Sybil Stockdale, the wife of Admiral James Stockdale, for being with us today.
        Sixty years ago this Friday, General Douglas MacArthur accepted the
    Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. With Japan's
    surrender, the last of our enemies in World War II was defeated, and a
    world war that began for America in the Pacific came to an end in the
    Pacific.
        As we mark this anniversary, we are again a nation at war. Once
    again, war came to our shores with a surprise attack that killed
    thousands in cold blood. Once again, we face determined enemies who
    follow a ruthless ideology that despises everything America stands for.
    Once again, America and our allies are waging a global campaign with
    forces deployed on virtually every continent. And once again, we will
    not rest until victory is America's and our freedom is secure.
        In the midst of this struggle, we have confidence in our cause
    because we know that America has faced down brutal enemies before. We
    have confidence in our cause because we've seen the power of freedom to
    overcome the darkness of tyranny and terror. And we have confidence in
    our cause because we know the character and courage of those who wear
    the uniform of the United States military.
        Fifty years ago, we saw that character and that courage in men such
    as Leon Stone, who was a young Navy sailor aboard
    the battleship West Virginia, supporting the marines at Iwo Jima. We saw
    that courage in men such as Jim Simpson, who was
    one of those marines. They didn't know each other, but they came
    together to fight for America's security. They came together to join a
    mighty force that defeated the Japanese empire. Jim Simpson and Leon
    Stone did finally meet one day when Leon's son and Jim's daughter got
    married.

    [[Page 1375]]

        And today, their grandson, Captain Randy Stone, carries on a proud family tradition. Captain Stone is a
    marine officer now serving in Iraq. He knows that he and his generation
    are doing the same vital work in this war on terror that his
    grandparents did in World War II. He also knows how this struggle will
    end. Randy says, ``I know we will win, because I see it in the eyes of
    the marines every morning. In their eyes is the sparkle of victory.''
        Captain Stone proudly wears the uniform just
    as his grandfathers did
    at Iwo Jima. He's guided by the same convictions they carried into
    battle. He shares the same willingness to serve a cause greater than
    himself. Many of you grew up with dads and granddads who have similar
    stories about their World War II service. They're the modest sons of a
    peaceful country. And a grateful nation thanks them for their sacrifice
    that preserved our freedom and our way of life.
        The men and women who served in World War II belonged to a
    generation that kept its faith even when liberty's ultimate triumph was
    far from clear. When America was attacked at Pearl Harbor, our country
    was just emerging from a depression. More than half a dozen nations had
    larger armies than we did. In Asia and Europe, country after country had
    fallen before the disciplined armies of the militaristic regimes. These
    events led many to conclude that freedom had seen its day and that the
    future belonged to the hard men in Berlin and Tokyo.
        Franklin Roosevelt refused to accept that democracy was finished.
    His optimism reflected his belief that the enemy's will to power could
    not withstand our will to live in freedom. He told the American people
    that our liberty depended on the success of liberty in other lands. And
    he called on Americans to defend that liberty, and millions answered the
    call. Within 4 years, America would recover from the devastation of
    Pearl Harbor. Within 4 years, we would fight and win a world war on two
    fronts.
        Our victory in Asia was a particular triumph for the United States
    Navy. After Pearl Harbor, our Pacific Fleet was nearly destroyed, and
    the enemy appeared invincible. Those were dark days for freedom, but the
    darkness would not long prevail. From the daring first attack on
    Japanese soil led by Jimmy Doolittle and launched from the deck of the
    USS Hornet, to the Battle of Midway, to the flag-raising of Iwo Jima,
    our troops in the Pacific gave Americans back home reason to believe
    that President Roosevelt was right, that democracy was the most
    unconquerable of all forms of human society.
        President Roosevelt was guided in victory in World War II by certain
    timeless principles. First, President Roosevelt believed that free
    nations could muster the resolve to defend themselves. In his day, that
    belief was sorely tested by a ruthless and determined enemy. Our troops
    in the Pacific found themselves up against a ferocity they had never
    before encountered--kamikaze pilots on suicidal missions, soldiers who
    fought to the last man, commanders animated by a fanatical belief that
    their nation was ordained to rule the Asian Continent. This enemy took
    many lives and left many grieving families. Yet in the end, they were no
    match for the forces of the United States and our allies. In the end,
    they were defeated by Americans who only months before had been farmers
    and bank clerks and factory hands. And in the end, the victorious
    children of democracy would help their defeated enemies rebuild and
    bring the taste of freedom to millions.
        One of the first to recognize this truth was a member of Japan's
    surrender delegation aboard the USS Missouri. He went to the ceremony
    expecting to hear how the allies intended to take their vengeance on the
    defeated. Instead he heard General MacArthur speak about a future of
    freedom for Japan, and he realized the true source of America's military
    might. He wrote: ``We

    [[Page 1376]]

    weren't beaten on the battlefield by the dint of superior arms; we were
    defeated in the spiritual conquest by virtue of a nobler idea.'' In
    World War II, wherever our troops raised the flag of victory, they would
    also sow the seeds of liberty, and as a result, the world is better off.
        Secondly, President Roosevelt believed that the call to freedom is
    universal. Many of our closest allies did not agree with him about this,
    and the political map of Asia seemed to confirm their skepticism. At the
    beginning of the war, the Pacific had only two democracies: Australia
    and New Zealand. Even in nations where the rule was not harsh, the best
    that most Asian people could expect was benevolent colonialism. The
    Japanese claimed they were ridding the continent of foreign colonialism.
    But millions of Chinese and Burmese and other Asian people soon learned
    that Tokyo had simply replaced Western colonialism with a version that
    was often more harsh and repressive.
        President Roosevelt, and later President Truman, wisely resolved
    that we would not make that mistake in our treatment of a defeated
    Japan. They understood that the sacrifices of Allied forces would mean
    nothing unless we used our victory to help the Japanese people transform
    their nation from tyranny to freedom. There were many doubters. American
    and Japanese experts claimed that the Japanese weren't ready for
    democracy.
        In a letter to a friend back home, one of our soldiers on the ground
    offered a different view. Sergeant Richard Leonard's brother had been
    killed in fighting the Japanese, but after being stationed in Japan and
    meeting Japanese people, he found he could not hate them. He wrote:
    ``Sure, we've got to occupy their country and watch them, but at the
    same time, we've got to help them and do everything possible to
    reconstruct them as a peace-loving nation.'' Sergeant Leonard was right.
    And America did just what he thought we should do. And as we look at
    what he and his generation accomplished in Japan, we know it is a
    mistake to believe that some people are not fit for equality and freedom
    our Creator intended for all.
        Third, President Roosevelt believed that free nations are peaceful
    nations that would not threaten America. He knew that it was the lack of
    democracy in Japan that allowed an unelected group of militarists to
    take control of the state, threaten their neighbors, attack America, and
    plunge an entire region into war. And he knew that the best way to bring
    peace and stability to the region was by bringing freedom to Japan.
        Democracy takes different forms in different cultures. Japanese
    democracy would be different from American democracy. The Japanese
    constitution would guarantee the universal freedoms that are the
    foundation of all genuine democracies, while, at the same time,
    reflecting the unique traditions and needs of the Japanese people. It
    allowed for both an electoral democracy and a heredity monarchy. It set
    Japan on the path to a free society.
        With every step toward freedom, the Japanese economy flourished.
    With every step toward freedom, the Japanese became a model for others
    in the region. With every step toward freedom, the Japanese became a
    valued member of the world community, a force for peace and stability in
    the region, and a trusted and reliable ally of the United States of
    America.
        I've experienced this transformation in a very personal way. During
    World War II, my dad was one of the Navy's
    youngest pilots and was shot down over the Pacific. At the same time, an
    official named Junya Koizumi served in Japan's legislative assembly.
    Today, their sons serve as the elected leaders of two free nations.
    Prime Minister Koizumi is a respected
    leader and one of my best friends in the international community. Our
    two democracies are among the world's closest allies. And all Americans
    are safer and more secure because the Japanese people are free.

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        Today, we must not forget the lessons of the past, and the lesson of
    this experience is clear: The most powerful weapon in the arsenal of
    democracy is the spirit of liberty. In the 20th century, the spirit of
    liberty worked to spread freedom from Japan and Germany to Eastern
    Europe and Latin America and Southeast Asia and Africa. And the spirit
    of liberty is at work today. Across the broader Middle East, we can see
    freedom's power to transform nations and deliver hope to people who have
    not known it. In Afghanistan and Iraq and Lebanon and the Palestinian
    Territories, people have gone to the polls and chosen their leaders in
    free elections. Their example is inspiring millions across that region
    to claim their liberty as well, and they will have it.
        In Iraq, people have come together to write a constitution that
    guarantees freedom for all Iraqi citizens. The document they have
    produced protects fundamental human freedoms, including freedom for
    women, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience,
    and freedom of expression. This constitution is the result of democratic
    debate and compromise, and the Iraqi citizens can be proud of what they
    have accomplished.
        As freedom advances across a troubled part of the world, it is once
    again opposed by fanatical adherence of a murderous ideology. And once
    again, the stakes are high. Now, as then, our enemies have made their
    fight a test of American credibility and resolve. Now, as then, they are
    trying to intimidate free people and break our will. And now, as then,
    they will fail.
        They will fail because the terrorists of our century are making the
    same mistake that the followers of other totalitarian ideologies made in
    the last century. They believe that democracies are inherently weak and
    corrupt and can be brought to their knees. They looked at our response
    after the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombings of the Marine barracks in
    Lebanon, the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American
    soldiers in Somalia, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa,
    and the attack on the USS Cole. They concluded that free societies lack
    the courage and character to defend themselves against a determined
    enemy. Here are the words of Usama bin Laden
    that explain why he believed he could get away with the attacks of
    September the 11th, 2001: ``We've seen in the last decade the decline of
    the American Government and the weakness of the American soldier, who is
    ready to wage cold wars and unprepared to fight long wars . . . After a
    few blows they ran in defeat . . . [They forgot] about being the world
    leader . . .'' End quote.
        After September the 11th, 2001, we've taught the terrorists a very
    different lesson. America will not run in defeat, and we will not forget
    our responsibilities. We have brought down two murderous regimes. We're
    driving terrorists from their sanctuaries. We're putting the terrorists
    on the run all across the world.
        The terrorists and insurgents are now waging a brutal campaign of
    terror in Iraq. They kill innocent men and women and children in the
    hopes of intimidating Iraqis. They're trying to scare them away from
    democracy. They're trying to break the will of the American people.
    Their goal is to turn Iraq into a failed state, like Afghanistan was
    under the Taliban. If Zarqawi and bin
    Laden gain control of Iraq, they would
    create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks. They'd seize
    oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could recruit more terrorists
    by claiming an historic victory over the United States and our
    coalition.
        Our goal is clear as well. We will defeat the terrorists. We'll
    build a free Iraq that will fight terrorists instead of giving them aid
    and sanctuary. A free Iraq will offer people throughout the Middle East
    a hopeful alternative to the hateful ideology being peddled by the
    terrorists. A free Iraq will show that when America gives its word,
    America keeps its word.

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        That choice--this is the choice we face: Do we return to the pre-
    September the 11th mindset of isolation and retreat, or do we continue
    to take the fight to the enemy and support our allies in the broader
    Middle East? I've made my decision. We will stay on the offensive. We
    will stand with the people of Iraq, and we will prevail.
        We will prevail because this generation is determined to meet the
    threats of our time. We will prevail because this generation wants to
    leave a more hopeful world for our children and grandchildren. We will
    prevail because the desire to live in freedom is embedded in the soul of
    every man, woman, and child on this Earth. And we will prevail because
    our freedom is defended by the greatest force for liberation that
    humankind has ever known, the men and women of the United States Armed
    Forces.
        In this war, some of our best citizens have made the ultimate
    sacrifice. We mourn the loss of every life. We pray for their loved
    ones. And we will honor their sacrifice by completing the mission and
    laying the foundation for peace.
        Sixty years ago, American forces made the same type of sacrifice and
    helped liberate two continents and made our world a more peaceful place.
    The men and women of World War II brought honor to the uniform and to
    our flag and to our country. With each passing day, their ranks thin,
    but the peace they built endures. And we will never let the new enemies
    of a new century destroy with cowardice what these Americans built with
    courage.
        Sixty years after V-J Day, our military veterans can take heart from
    the example they see right here in San Diego. Those of you who wear the
    Nation's uniform today are every bit as selfless and dedicated to
    liberty as the generations that came before. And when we will look at
    you, we know our freedom is in good hands.
        It is men and women like you who keep us free. It is the spirit of
    liberty that keeps you strong, and it is the history that gives us
    confidence to know that in the vital work of spreading liberty, America
    and those of us who love freedom will prevail.
        May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:04 a.m. at Naval Air Station North
    Island. In his remarks, he referred to Vice Adm. James M. Zortman, USN,
    commander, Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet;
    Mayor Tom Smisek of Coronado, CA; Vice Adm. Barry M. Costello, USN,
    commander, Third Fleet; Rear Adm. Michael H. Miller, USN, commander,
    Carrier Strike Group Seven and USS Ronald Reagan Strike Group; Rear Adm.
    Leendert ``Len'' R. Hering, Sr., USN, commander, Navy Regional Northwest
    and Naval Surface Group, Pacific Northwest; Capt. Townsend ``Tim'' G.
    Alexander, USN, commanding officer, and Master Chief Michael ``Mick'' F.
    Fulton, USN, command master chief, Naval Base Coronado; Chief Petty
    Officer Chet Swisher, USN (Ret.), director, Veterans Memorial Center,
    San Diego, CA; Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; Usama bin
    Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and senior Al
    Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.