[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 22 (Monday, June 4, 2001)]
[Pages 822-824]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Day Commemoration in Mesa, Arizona

May 28, 2001

    Thank you all very much. Secretary Principi, thank you for agreeing 
to serve our Nation. Thank you for your vision and hard work to make 
sure that those who have worn the uniform receive the benefits that they 
are owed. Principi is a good man who is going to do a fine job on behalf 
of the American people.
    I'm honored to be here with my friend the Governor of the State of 
Arizona, Jane Dee Hull; Senator Jon Kyl from the great State of Arizona; 
Congressman Bob Stump, the chairman of the Military Affairs Committee; 
J.D. Hayworth; and the Congressman from this district, Jeff Flake.
    It's an honor to be here with the commanders of Arizona's military 
bases. I'm pleased to be here with the distinguished guests on the 
stage. There's one special American here today, a man named Tom 
Lockhart, who was a captain in the United States Air Force, who had the 
dubious distinction of trying to teach me how to fly a T-38 aircraft at 
Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. And I'm so honored my friend, Silver Star 
winner Tom Lockhart, is with us today, as well.
    Before I begin, I do want to ask us to join in a moment of silence 
for a veteran who passed away today, the Congressman from the State of 
Massachusetts, Congressman Joe Moakley. Please join me in a moment of 
silence.

[At this point, a moment of silence was observed.]

    Thank you very much. Joe loved America, and he will be sorely 
missed.
    Today's the day we say thanks to many heroes. There's a true hero 
who is a Senator from the State of Arizona, he is overseas today, but I 
know you all join me in thanking John McCain for his service, not only 
to Arizona but to the United States of America. And no President can 
pass through Arizona without remembering the great Arizona statesman who 
left us 3 years ago, Senator and Major General Barry Goldwater.
    I want to thank you all for coming out. I am so pleased that so many 
of your citizens lined the streets and came into this hangar on this 
kind of warm Arizona day. [Laughter] I began this day with a group of 
veterans at the White House by signing into law a bill to expedite 
construction of a national World War II Memorial on The Mall in 
Washington, DC.
    I had the honor of bringing one of the two pens I used to sign the 
bill with me today and present it to the law's primary sponsor in the 
House of Representatives, Congressman Bob Stump.
    Throughout America, we will find monuments to those who served in 
that war. The generation of World War II defeated one of history's 
greatest tyrannies, leaving graves and freedom from Europe to Asia. In 
Phoenix, near your State capital, you keep the anchor of the U.S.S. 
Arizona, honoring the men who died on that ship almost 60 years ago. It 
is time to build a lasting national memorial to World War II in our 
Nation's Capital, and the work begins soon.
    I would like all those who served our Nation in World War II, World 
War II widows, and World War II orphans to raise their

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hands so we can thank you for your service. [Applause] Now you can put 
them down.
    Many veterans of other wars are with us today, Korea, Vietnam, the 
cold war, and other conflicts. We're honored by your presence. And we're 
honored by the president of the Buffalo Soldiers standing with us today, 
as well. And we're especially honored by the presence of several men who 
wear the Nation's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. Thank 
you all for being here.
    Arizona is also home to some veterans of the Navajo Code Talkers 
program. In the Pacific theater, these men made a brilliant and 
legendary contribution to victory in the Second World War. Countless 
American lives were spared because our military could communicate in the 
unbreakable code of the Navajo language. In a time of great need, our 
country was served bravely and served well by the Navajo.
    There are many thousands of veterans in this State. And often 
veterans are not eager to look back at their experiences. Hardest of all 
is to recall the ones who never lived to be called veterans. But memory 
is our duty, and on this day, it is our privilege.
    At 3 p.m., in every town, city, village, and hamlet in America, 
Americans of all walks of life are pausing for a moment of silence. It 
is 3 p.m. in this great State of Arizona. Please join me in a moment of 
silence for those who gave their lives to our great Nation.

[A moment of silence was observed.]

    God bless.
    The heroes we remember never really set out to be heroes. Each loved 
his life as much as we love ours. Each had a place in the world, a 
family waiting, and friends to see again. They thought of the future, 
just as we do, with plans and hopes for a long life. But they left it 
all behind when they went to war and parted with it forever when they 
died. Every Memorial Day we gather at places like this to grasp the 
extent of their loss and the meaning of the sacrifice. It always seems 
more than words can cover. 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.
    Today, in thousands of towns, Americans have gathered to pay their 
own tributes to the men and women who died young, some very young. We 
often think of this as one of great national loss, and that is certainly 
the case. But for so many, and perhaps many here today, there is one 
name among all the others, a name that recalls a different time and 
memories held close and quiet. To those who have known such loss and 
felt such absence in their life, Memorial Day gives formal expression to 
a very personal experience. Your losses can be marked but not measured. 
And we can never measure the value of what was gained in their 
sacrifice. We live it every day in the comforts of peace and the gifts 
of freedom. These have all been purchased for us, and we're grateful for 
the sacrifice.
    It's not in our nature to seek out wars and conflicts, but whenever 
they have come, when adversaries have left us no alternative, American 
men and women have stood ready to take the risks and pay the ultimate 
price. People of the same caliber and the same character today fill the 
ranks of the All-Volunteer Army of the United States of America. Any foe 
who might ever challenge our national resolve would be repeating the 
grave error of defeated adversaries. Because this Nation loves peace, we 
do not take it for granted. And because we love freedom, we are always 
prepared to bear its greatest costs.
    I oftentimes see the military folks who serve our Nation so proud 
and humbled--to see them in lines of such discipline and training and 
preparedness. They're the new generation of America's defenders. They 
follow in an unbroken line of good and brave and unfaltering people who 
have never let this country down.
    Today we honor those who fell from the line, who left us never 
knowing how much they would be missed. We pray for them with an 
affection that grows deeper with the years. And we remember them, all of 
them, with the love of a grateful Nation.
    Thank you all for coming, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 2:52 p.m. at the Champlin Fighter Aircraft 
Museum.

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