[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 48 (Monday, December 2, 1996)]
[Pages 2438-2439]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska

November 26, 1996

    Thank you. Thank you very much. You may have noticed from the news, 
I'm a little hoarse. But if you will be patient with me, I will try to 
say what is in my mind and heart for you.
    First, Governor and Mrs. Knowles, General Gamble, Colonel Lake, 
Mayor Mystrom, Lieutenant Governor Ulmer, to the other distinguished 
leaders of our Air Force and Army who are here. All of you know that 
when I tell you I just couldn't go home without stopping here, I'm 
telling the truth. [Laughter]

[[Page 2439]]

    I guess I could go home without seeing you, but that would be my 
loss. Hillary and I look forward so much to the opportunities we have to 
come here to see the people who serve our Nation, who serve particularly 
in the Asia-Pacific region where I have just spent a number of days in 
Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand, and to see your families. I 
want to thank you for what you do. I want to tell you that, once again, 
I see from my talks with leaders throughout the world how important our 
leadership in this region is for peace, for stability, for prosperity 
and how much people all over the Asia-Pacific region look to you, trust 
you, believe in you, and see America in you. I thank you for that, and 
you should be very, very proud.
    As Hillary and I go home for Thanksgiving we'll be giving special 
thanks this year, because it's Military Families Appreciation Week, for 
the families of our men and women in uniform throughout the world. From 
Bosnia to the Middle East, to Haiti, to the DMZ in Korea, here in 
Alaska, and in countries throughout the world, in bases all over the 
United States, I have seen the sacrifices and the support of our 
military families. I'm so grateful to all of you who have brought your 
children here today. I hope I get to shake hands with as many of them as 
possible. Those of you in the back who have your children on your 
shoulders, I thank you for that. I hope they will always remember that 
their parents served their country with pride and honor and that they 
had a chance to see the President thank their parents for their service.
    To all of you in our families--I know here at Elmendorf alone there 
are 10,000 dependents--I know that the national security would not be 
possible without you. I was so moved by General McCaffrey's story of his 
own experience. I have seen that in military support families in 
accidents which cost the lives of our military personnel and in losses 
in active-duty service. But every day I see it in the support you give 
in countless ways to make it possible for families to stay together, for 
children to be raised properly, for families to support each so that our 
country can be properly defended.
    So on this Thanksgiving Day, for all of our many blessings--and I've 
got a lot of things to be thankful for, including having my contract 
renewed--[laughter]--I want you to know when our family, including a lot 
of our extended family, gathers on Thursday at Camp David, we will be 
thanking God for all of you who make our country the greatest, strongest 
force for freedom in human history.
    God bless you, and thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 9:17 p.m. Alaska time in the Hangar One 
after crossing the international dateline. In his remarks, he referred 
to Gov. Tony Knowles of Alaska and his wife, Susan; Lt. Gen. Patrick K. 
Gamble, USAF, Commander, Alaskan Command; Col. William J. Lake, USAF, 
Commander, Third Wing; Mayor Rick Mystrom of Anchorage; Lt. Gov. Fran 
Ulmer; and Barry R. McCaffrey, Director of National Drug Control Policy. 
A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.