[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 27 (Monday, July 8, 1996)]
[Pages 1161-1162]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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Remarks at the Memorial Service for American Servicemen Killed in Saudi
Arabia at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
June 30, 1996
Governor Chiles, Congressman Scarborough, Lieutenant Governor
MacKay, General Shalikashvili, Secretary White, Secretary Widnall, Under
Secretary DeLeon, General Fogleman, General Hawley, General Cranston,
Colonel Dylewski, the chaplains, Chief Lowe; to those brave servicemen
who were injured, we thank God for your presence here today; to the
families of the 12 men who we honor today who died in the service of our
Nation.
These men represented the best of America, and they gave America
their best. They stepped forward to lead our mission for peace and
freedom. They did so with courage, strength, and skill. As members of
the Nomads, the 33d Fighter Wing, as communicators and mechanics, crew
chiefs and technicians, they kept our aircraft flying, and they owned
the skies. Time and again they gave up the comforts that most of us take
for granted, traveling far from home and family to take up America's
cause.
There is a passage in Isaiah in which God wonders, ``Whom shall I
send, and who will go for us?'' Isaiah answers, ``Here am I, Lord. Send
me.'' These men we honor today said to America, ``Send me.''
We will remember them as patriots, but they were also husbands and
fathers, sons and brothers, colleagues, neighbors, and friends. Some
came from families with a proud tradition of military service. Some have
brothers and sisters serving our military today. Some had dreamed of
joining the Air Force since they were little boys.
All of them showed by the example of their lives the same spirit of
service they brought to their careers. They were always among the first
to lend a hand when someone was in need. They served as soccer coaches
and Sunday school teachers. They helped the victims of hurricanes and
volunteered as firemen. They loved their cars, their sports, their
families, and their mission. One of them was on his third tour in Saudi
Arabia. Another volunteered so a man with larger family obligations
could stay home.
They were all very different, as I saw when I met with their
families. They came from different regions, different ethnic groups,
different religious and political backgrounds. But they were united by
love of nation, mission, and family. They touched the lives of many
other people, and because of them we all lead safer and better lives.
On behalf of the American people, let me say to their families and
loved ones and to their friends in the Eglin community: We are grateful
for their service. We stand with you in sorrow and in outrage. They were
taken before their time, felled by the hands of hatred in an act whose
savagery is matched only by its cowardice. We will not rest in our
efforts to capture, prosecute, and punish those who committed this evil
deed. But today, in the warm embrace of our faith, let us put aside our
anger for a moment to remember and honor those who were lost, to find
strength in their service, to thank God for the lives they lived, to
continue the struggle for freedom and decency to which they devoted
their lives.
We're blessed to live in a prosperous land in a time of peace, but
we are not free from peril. While the modern world brings to all of us
many new opportunities, it also leaves us more open to the forces of
intolerance and destruction and especially to terrorism, so often rooted
in ethnic and religious hatreds, because terrorists can strike anywhere,
from the Tokyo subway to the streets of London, from the Holy Land to
the World Trade Center in New York and Oklahoma City and now in Saudi
Arabia.
My fellow Americans, during the long struggles of World War II and
the cold war, America stood fast for freedom. In our time, terrorism is
the enemy of peace and freedom. America must not and America will not be
driven from the fight against terrorism. In this effort, every American
must stand behind the men and women of our Armed Forces. Every American
must stand against
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violence and hatred and stand for dignity and tolerance at home as well
as abroad. We must honor the memory of those we have lost by upholding
the ideals for which they lived and the mission for which they gave
their lives.
To the loved ones of these 12 fine men, I know there are no words to
soothe the loss of a father or a husband, a brother or a son, a fiance
or a dear friend. The rest of us can only hope that there is some solace
for you in the pride and passion they brought to their work, the
strength and decency they demonstrated every day, the love and respect
they engendered and which surround you today, and the gratitude of their
Nation.
Let us now praise these quiet American heroes who gave their lives
in service to America. May they rest in peace, and may their names live
on forever:
Technical Sergeant Daniel Cafourek
Sergeant Millard Dee Campbell
Senior Airman Earl Cartrette, Jr.
Technical Sergeant Patrick Fennig
Master Sergeant Kendall Kitson, Jr.
Technical Sergeant Thanh Gus Nguyen
Airman First Class Brent Marthaler
Airman First Class Brian McVeigh
Airman First Class Peter Morgera
Airman First Class Joseph Rimkus
Senior Airman Jeremy Taylor
Airman First Class Joshua Woody
Our Nomads have ceased their wandering. They have come home. May God
embrace their souls. May God bless their families and their loved ones.
And may God bless America's mission of peace and freedom, for which they
gave the last full measure of their devotion.
Note: The President spoke at 10:32 a.m. in the King Hangar. In his
remarks, he referred to Gov. Lawton Chiles and Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay of
Florida; Gen. Richard E. Hawley, USAF, Commander, Air Combat Command;
Maj. Gen. Stewart E. Cranston, USAF, Commander, Air Force Development
Test Center; and Col. Gary R. Dylewski, USAF, Commander, and Chief
Master Sgt. Troy Lowe, USAF, Senior Enlisted Adviser, 33d Fighter Wing.