[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 22 (Monday, June 4, 2001)]
[Pages 815-816]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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The President's Radio Address

May 26, 2001

    Good morning. Most Americans are enjoying a 3-day weekend this 
Saturday, and I hope you are enjoying yours. I also hope you'll find the 
time to share in our Nation's observance of Memorial Day, when we pause 
to reflect on the cost of the free lives we live today.
    I will be marking the day with military veterans gathering at the 
White House, who knew and remember the people who never came back from 
our Nation's wars. I will then go to Arlington National Cemetery to lay 
a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It will be a high honor, and I 
will be there on behalf of all the people of the United States. Later 
that day I will join with veterans in Arizona for a commemoration and 
national moment of remembrance.
    Most of us know war veterans. I had the privilege of being raised by 
one. Usually, they are reticent about their experiences. It is often 
difficult for them to think back on those names and faces, on the ones 
who never lived to be called veterans. But on Memorial Day, we accept 
our obligation to do just that.

    We will remember the heroism, the hardship, the national gain, and 
personal loss our wars have brought. America has been given so much, but 
of all our assets, resources, and strengths, none have counted for more 
than the courage of young soldiers in the face of battle.

    When war has come, the great decisions were made here at the White 
House. But when the orders went out and were received half a world away, 
victory has always come down to the people flying the planes, manning 
the ships, carrying the gun and the pack. They're the ones who have 
cleared the seas, crossed the rivers, charged the hills, and covered the 
skies. They have defended us. They have died for us. They have never 
disappointed us. We are in their debt more than a lifetime of Memorial 
Days could ever repay.

    With their sacrifice comes a duty that will go on through the 
generations, to honor them in our thoughts, in our words, and in our 
lives. Every Memorial Day we try to grasp the extent of this loss and 
the meaning of this sacrifice. But it always seems more than words can 
convey. In the end, all we can do is be thankful; all we can do is 
remember and always appreciate the price that was paid for our own lives 
and our own freedom.

    Thank you for listening.
      
      

Note: The address was recorded at 3:40 p.m. on May 24 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 26. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
May 25 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.

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