[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 3 (Monday, January 24, 2005)]
[Pages 71-72]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks ``Saluting Those Who Serve''

January 18, 2005

    At ease. Thanks for the warm welcome. It is such a pleasure to be 
with the courageous men and women of the United States Armed Forces. As 
we prepare to celebrate our Nation's 55th Presidential Inauguration, I 
can think of no better way to begin than by giving thanks for our 
freedom and those who make it possible.
    Please be seated. It may be a long speech. [Laughter]
    Whether you serve in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, Marines, or 
Coast Guard, each of you has stepped forward to serve. You have risked 
your lives in faraway mountains and arid deserts, in perilous skies and 
on the high seas, to defend liberty and to free those trapped by 
tyranny. As I prepare to take the oath of office, I want you to know how 
grateful I am for your service and sacrifice and how proud I am to be 
your Commander in Chief.
    And I am really proud of our First Lady, my wife. I love her dearly. 
I appreciate so very much the service and advice and friendship of our 
Vice President, Dick Cheney. Like me, he married well. [Laughter] It's 
good to see my mother and father. Secretary Rumsfeld, thank you for your 
great service to our Nation, and it's good to see Joyce.
    I appreciate the military commanders who are here. I want to thank 
the members of my administration who've joined us, Members of Congress, 
members of the active military, wounded troops, Congressional Medal of 
Honor recipients. Family members of our fallen soldiers, thank you so 
much for being here today.
    Our troops watching from Baghdad, Iraq, and Bagram Air Force Base in 
Afghanistan, God bless you all.
    I thank Kelsey Grammer--what a fine man. I appreciate his patriotism 
and being the emcee of this fantastic event. I want to thank all the 
other entertainers who have taken of their time to entertain our troops 
and really to say--what they're doing here is to say, ``Thank goodness 
for your service.''
    The Inauguration of a President is a great moment in the life of our 
country. With an election behind us, the American people come together 
in unity to celebrate our freedom. A Presidential Inauguration is a 
testament to the power of democracy, a symbol of our confidence in the 
popular will, and a sign of hope for freedom-loving people everywhere.
    We are blessed to live in hopeful times, when the promise of liberty 
is spreading across the world. In the last 4 years, more than 50 million 
people have joined the ranks of the free. The people of Afghanistan have 
thrown off an outlaw regime and chosen a President in the first free 
elections in that nation's 5,000-year history. And in coming days, the 
Iraqi people will have their chance to go to the polls, to begin the 
process of creating a democratic government that will answer to the 
people, instead of to a thug and a tyrant.

[[Page 72]]

    These are landmark events in the history of liberty. And none of it 
would have been possible without the courage and the determination of 
the United States Armed Forces.
    Through your service and sacrifice in the war on terror, you are 
making America safer. You're making America safer for not only those of 
us who live today but for future generations of Americans. Your 
sacrifice has made it possible for our children and grandchildren to 
grow up in a safer world.
    Many here today have endured long separations from your families. We 
understand that, and we thank you for that. Some are preparing to do so. 
Others have suffered terrible injuries, wounds you will carry with you 
for the rest of your lives. Still others have lost loved ones in this 
struggle, heroes who gave their lives so that we might live in freedom. 
We hold them in our hearts; we lift them up in our prayers.
    We're grateful to you, and we are grateful to your families who love 
and support you. Your families miss you, and they worry about you, and 
they pray for you, always wondering where you are and if you're safe. By 
their sacrifice, they also serve. Our Nation is grateful to our military 
families.
    You, those who wear our uniform, have given much, and much more will 
be asked of you in the months and years ahead. In Afghanistan and Iraq, 
the liberty that has been won at great cost now must be secured. We 
still face terrorist enemies who wish to harm our people and are seeking 
weapons that would allow them to kill on an unprecedented scale. These 
enemies must be stopped, and you are the ones who will stop them.
    The road ahead will be difficult and dangerous, but we can proceed 
with courage and with confidence. History moves toward freedom because 
the desire for freedom is written in every human heart. And the cause of 
freedom is in the best of hands, the hands of the United States Armed 
Forces.
    And so, thank you for your service. Thank you for your sacrifice. 
May God bless you, and may God bless your families, and may God continue 
to bless the United States of America.

Note: The President spoke at 4:18 p.m. at the MCI Center. In his 
remarks, he referred to Joyce Rumsfeld, wife of Secretary of Defense 
Donald H. Rumsfeld; and actor Kelsey Grammer.