    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 22 (Monday, June 5, 2000)]
    [Pages 1244-1246]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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

    May 29, 2000

        Thank you very much. Secretary Cohen, thank you for your kind
    remarks and for your leadership. General Ivany, Superintendent Metzler,
    Colonel Durham, Secretary West, Secretary Slater, General Shelton and
    the Joint Chiefs, General McCaffrey, Members of Congress and the
    diplomatic corps, veterans and family members, members of the Armed
    Services, members of the Armed Services who gave their lives for our
    country, my fellow Americans.
        We are blessed again today, together again in this magnificent
    amphitheater in our National Cemetery, to remember our fallen heroes. We
    honor, as well, all the proud veterans who would have made the same
    sacrifice if God had but called His heroes home in a different order.
        As you entered the grounds this morning, you saw every gravestone
    decorated with an American flag. Indeed, this day of remembrance was
    first known as Decoration Day, launched in 1868 by the Commander in
    Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic who designated this day for
    decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.
    Some still mark this holiday in the same way.
        On Thursday before Memorial Day, this year and every year for more
    than 40 years now, the entire regiment of 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S.
    Infantry has honored America's fallen heroes by placing American flags
    before every single one of the more than 260,000 gravestones here at
    Arlington; then remaining on patrol 24 hours a day all weekend long to
    make sure each flag remains standing.
        All across our country in small towns and large cities, veterans
    groups represented here today perform the same sacred ritual. I want to
    recognize and thank the members of the Old Guard and the veterans all
    across America for their patriotism, devotion, and commitment to
    honoring the original meaning of Memorial Day. I thank them very, very
    much.
        Arlington's hallowed earth embraces the bodies of service men and
    women from every one of our Nation's wars. Every generation has borne a
    share of the burden of defending the Republic and giving to each
    succeeding generation the chance for freedom. Presidents Kennedy and
    Taft are buried here. Generals Pershing and Bradley are buried here.
    Admirals Halsey and Rickover are buried here, as are John Foster Dulles
    and Oliver Wendell Holmes, George Marshall and Audie Murphy.
        Three of the Marines we remember forever for raising our flag on Iwo
    Jima--they are buried here. And of course, all the unknown, unsung
    heroes of more than two centuries of fighting tyranny are buried here.
    This is sacred soil and the heart and the history of America.
        Our hearts go out today especially to those our departed veterans
    left behind, the young women who had to cancel a wedding, young mothers
    who raised their children alone, mothers and fathers who faced perhaps
    life's greatest heartbreak. To all the families who have placed a gold
    star in their window, I renew our Nation's enduring pledge: The United
    States will always honor and never forsake its fallen heroes. We will
    not abandon their families. And wherever it takes, as long as it takes,
    we will keep our commitment to seek the fullest possible accounting.
        This morning we were honored to receive at the White House the sons
    and daughters and spouses of servicemen still missing in action. There
    is no more compelling way to understand how important our continuous
    efforts are to the hearts and minds of Americans than to hear it from
    family members themselves. And that is why I am pleased to announce to
    you today that the United States and North Korea have agreed to resume
    the talks the first week of June in Kuala Lumpur in hopes of resuming
    recovery operations in North Korea this year.
        As we prepare to observe the 50th anniversary of the beginning of
    the Korean war, on June 25th, we reaffirm our commitment to the more
    than 1.7 million Americans who served in Korea, the more than 36,000 who
    lost their lives there, and the more than 8,100 still missing.
        I also want to tell you today about the latest American soldier to
    come home. Just last week our team of specialists identified finally

    [[Page 1245]]

    and officially the remains of a soldier of the 1st Calvary Regiment of
    the Americal division, whose Huey helicopter was flying in the weeds at
    25 feet over Laos in the summer of 1970 when it lost power and crashed.
    The young soldier died immediately. When others rushed to the scene to
    bring his body out, they were forced back by enemy fire. When they tried
    again a short time later, they were again forced back. But finally,
    America returned to recover its own.
        Years later, with the help of several governments, extensive
    interviews, excavations, and DNA testing, a positive identification was
    made. Army Specialist 4 John E. Crowley, of Williamson, New York,
    forever 20 years old, was laid to rest here in Arlington Cemetery on
    Friday in a simple ceremony attended by his mother, brother, cousins,
    nieces, and nephews. For the life and service of Specialist Crowley, for
    the sacrifice of his family and every family that has suffered such
    loss, America is eternally grateful.
        We are also grateful for the many groups like Rolling Thunder, who
    come to Washington to advocate for our POW/MIA families. We hear you. We
    certainly hear Rolling Thunder when they're here. [Laughter] We welcome
    you, and we are honored to work with you.
        To preserve the peace, we must never forget the sacrifices that have
    paved the way to peace. Four years ago, Carmella LaSpada, a longtime
    advocate for families who have lost a loved one in conflict, asked a
    group of school children what Memorial Day means. And the children said,
    that's the day the pool opens. [Laughter] Well, that's not their fault
    that that was their answer. We adults must do more to teach them.
        That's why Carmella worked with Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Douglass and
    so many of you here today to launch a new national commitment to put
    ``memorial'' back in Memorial Day. So today, for the third straight
    year, I ask all Americans, in a profoundly symbolic and important act of
    national unity, to pause, wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time, to
    observe a national moment of remembrance for America's fallen heroes.
        At that time, the somber tones of ``Taps,'' our national requiem,
    will be played all across America and beyond, in the U.S. Capitol, in
    the Vietnam Memorial, at Ellis Island and the Liberty Bell, in VA
    hospitals and national parks, on Voice of America and Armed Forces
    Network, and in hundreds of places we Americans will be gathering today.
    When little boys and girls turn to their parents and whisper, ``Mommy,
    Daddy, what's happening?'' a new generation of Americans will have a
    chance to hear about the defenders of freedom.
        As we remember their sacrifice, as Secretary Cohen so eloquently
    pointed out, we must also resolve to fulfill the obligation the rest of
    us incurred with their sacrifice, to keep America free and strong. If
    those who fought and died for us could talk to us on this Memorial Day,
    they might well ask, ``America, have you made our sacrifice matter?'' At
    the dawn of a new century, Americans can answer that question with
    solemn pride. Today, we are fortunate to be the most powerful and
    prosperous nation on Earth, with a military respected around the world.
    We could say, ``Yes, America has made your sacrifice matter.''
        America is at peace. And the risk of war that would scar the lives
    of a whole generation has been vastly reduced. Yes, America has made
    your sacrifice matter. You fought for freedom in foreign lands, knowing
    it would protect our freedom at home. Today, freedom advances all around
    the world, and for the first time in all human history, more than half
    the world's people choose their own leaders. Yes, America has made your
    sacrifice matter.
        You fought to conquer tyranny and bring unity to Europe, where more
    than 100,000 American heroes are now buried. You gave your lives in
    places like Flanders Field and Normandy. But today, Europe is more
    united, more free, more peaceful than anytime in history. We have three
    new allies in NATO and many new partners across Europe's old cold war
    divide. Central Europe is free and flourishing. Soldiers from almost
    every European country, the most bitter former adversaries among them,
    now serve under a single command, keeping the peace in Bosnia, in
    Kosovo. Yes, America is making your sacrifice matter.
        We have more to do. Later today I will leave for Europe to meet with
    our partners

    [[Page 1246]]

    in the European Union in Portugal and to make the first visit of an
    American President to Berlin as the capital of a free and undivided
    Germany. We will continue our work with our European allies for peace
    and freedom--to make their sacrifice matter.
        I will visit Russia, the former adversary with whom we are trying so
    hard to build a new partnership and a safer world. Russia has just seen
    its first transition from one democratically elected government to
    another in 1,000 years of history. For the first time an American
    President will speak to a democratically elected Russian Parliament. As
    we support those changes, we will continue to push for greater and
    deeper ones--to make their sacrifice matter.
        I will go to Ukraine, a large country with over 60 million people,
    struggling to cast off the bitter legacy of communism; located in a
    strategic place that will determine much of the future of the 21st
    century; to support those who favor freedom and prosperity and
    stability--to make their sacrifice matter.
        The world of today would not be recognized by those who lived at the
    beginning of the cold war. Old adversaries have become allies;
    dictatorships have become democracies; Europe is more peaceful and
    united; the communism we fought to contain has collapsed, reformed, or
    been discredited around the world.
        Heartened by our progress toward peace and prosperity, we will
    pursue the two remaining challenges in fulfilling the age-old vision of
    a Europe peaceful, democratic, and undivided: bringing southeastern
    Europe and the former states of the Soviet Union into the community of
    democracies.
        On this first Memorial Day of the 21st century, the eighth and last
    Memorial Day I have had the honor to address the people of this country
    in this place as President, I give thanks to all those who have stood
    their ground to defend freedom and democracy and human dignity, and
    especially to those and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice.
        Americans never fought for empires, for territory, for dominance,
    but many, many Americans gave their lives for freedom. As we stand at
    the dawn of a new century they never saw but did so much to guarantee
    for us, far from fading into the past, their sacrifice is paving the way
    to our future.
        Thirty, forty, fifty years after our fallen veterans have gone, we
    can say, ``Glory! Hallelujah! Your truth is marching on.'' May God bless
    you all, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. in the Amphitheater at Arlington
    National Cemetery. In his remarks, he referred to Maj. Gen. Robert R.
    Ivany, USA, Commanding General, U.S. Army Military District of
    Washington; John C. (Jack) Metzler, superintendent, Arlington National
    Cemetery; and Col. Michael Durham, USA, Command Chaplain, Military
    District of Washington; Carmella LaSpada, founder, No Greater Love, and
    events coordinator for the National Moment of Remembrance; and Lt. Col.
    Jeff Douglass, USMC, liaison, National Moment of Remembrance.