[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 22 (Monday, June 7, 1993)]
[Pages 1001-1003]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, 
Arlington, Virginia

 May 31, 1993

    Thank you very much. General Gordon, distinguished leaders of the 
armed services, the Defense Department, the Cabinet, the Congress, the 
leaders of our veterans organizations here, to all the veterans and 
their families who are here and to all those here who are family members 
of veterans buried in this cemetery or in any other place around the 
globe, and to my fellow Americans: We come together this morning, along 
with our countrymen and women in cities across the

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land, to honor those who died that we might live in freedom, the only 
way that Americans can ever truly live. Today we put aside our 
differences to better reflect on what unites us. The lines so often 
drawn between and among us, lines of region or race or partisanship, all 
those lines fall away today as we gaze upon the lines of markers that 
surround us on these hallowed hills. The lines of difference are 
freedom's privilege. The lines of these markers are freedom's cost.

    Today Americans all across our land draw together in shared 
experience and shared remembrance. And whether it is an older veteran in 
Florida, or a teenager in New Mexico, or a mother in Wisconsin, all 
today will bow their heads and put hand to heart. And without knowing 
each other, still we will all be joined in spirit, because we are 
Americans and because we know we are equal shareholders in humanity's 
most uplifting dream.

    Today, as we fly the American flag, some will recall the pledge we 
began to recite daily as youngsters in grade school, with solemn faith 
and awkward salute, some of us even before we learned the difference 
between our right and left hands. Others will remember the flag waving 
over public gatherings, large and very small. But on this day, in this 
serene and solemn setting, conscious of the past, conscious, too, of the 
perils all too present, what we see most vividly in that flag are the 
faces of American soldiers who gave their lives in battle and the faces 
of this generation of young service men and women, very, very much 
alive, still training and preparing for possible conflicts tomorrow. 
From the first militiaman downed at Lexington to today's rawest recruit, 
the flag unites them, soldiers living and dead, and reminds the rest of 
us that we are all the inheritors of a sacred trust.

    It is with that flag and that trust in mind that we resolve this May 
morning to keep America free, strong, and proud. We resolve in this era 
of profound change and continuing peril to be ever vigilant against any 
foe that could endanger us and against any undercurrent that might erode 
our security, including the economic security that is the ultimate 
foundation of our Nation's strength. We resolve, as well, always to keep 
America's Armed Forces the finest in the world. And we resolve that if 
we ask them to fight in our behalf, we will give them the clear mission, 
the means, and the support they need to win.

    In honoring those who died in the defense of our country, we must 
never neglect to honor as well our living American veterans. The Nation 
owes a special debt to the millions of men and women who took up posts 
at home or abroad to secure our defenses or to fight for our freedom. 
Because of what they have done for us, their health and well-being must 
always be a cause for our special concern.

    Here by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we renew our Nation's 
solemn pledge also to the POW and MIA families from all wars, a pledge 
to provide not just the prayers and memorials but also to the extent 
humanly possible to provide the answers you deserve. And we vow, with 
the new Korean War Memorial project finally underway, that no future 
conflict, if conflict there must be, must ever be regarded as a 
forgotten war. The inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier says 
that he is, quote, ``Known only to God.'' But that is only partly true. 
While the soldier's name is known only to God, we know a lot about him. 
We know he served his country, honored his community, and died for the 
cause of freedom. And we know that no higher praise can be assigned to 
any human being than those simple words.

    Today we are at peace, but we live in a troubled world. From that 
flag and from these, our honored dead, we draw strength and inspiration 
to carry on in our time the tasks of defending and preserving freedom 
that were so nobly fulfilled by all those we come here to honor in this 
time. In that effort and in the presence of those buried all around us, 
we ask the support of all Americans in the aid and blessing of God 
Almighty. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. at the Memorial Amphitheater. In 
his remarks, he referred to Maj. Gen. F.A. Gordon, USA, commander of the 
Military District of Washington.

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