Posted on 11/11/2010 1:07:49 PM PST by calif_reaganite
Thank you for inviting me. It is an especially high honor for me to pay tribute to those whose devotion to the greatest country in the world gave me and my family the greatest gift of our lives: freedom.
Sixteen years ago, we left the former Soviet Union for the United States to seek refuge from a cruel and despotic government, not unlike millions of others who risked their meager possessions and indeed their lives, because the ills they have suffered at the hands of their governments have become insufferable and because they were all bound by a common cause, to find freedom in freedom’s only refuge - America.
And the one and only reason they found that freedom is because successive generations of Americans since those who grabbed their muskets at Lexington and Concord offered up their lives so that their posterity could live not knowing tyranny. And I stand here today, because this generation of veterans united by the same cause sacrificed to protect and ultimately preserve the spirit of America.
What inspires ordinary men to commit such extraordinary acts of devotion? Well, it is the realization that the Founders shared that in their hands is something special and fundamentally good and unique and thus worth every sacrifice. The Founders articulated that character of America in our Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights and that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
But it is the sentence that follows that has forever set apart the destiny of the United States: “That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” That is a fundamentally American principle, a revolutionary sentiment at its time and to this day.
We, Americans, have come to see that our rights are granted by what the Founders referred to as Nature and Nature’s God. They are not bestowed by a bureaucracy or committee of men – they come from Nature. They are inalienable – meaning that they cannot be taken away by government or any other force. In fact, government exists – its sole purpose is – to protect those rights from infringement.
Freedom is precious and it is utterly reviled by the same despotic forces that ultimately broke the bonds that connected my family to its former land. And you fought for these principles and you preserved them to inspire my parents to risk what little they had and persevere through KGB surveillance and plead for one special dispensation after another to leave the country. Your devotion to America granted us what we so desperately sought: a new beginning.
So let the word go forth from Susanville, California that you rose up to defend what Lincoln called the last great hope for mankind and that you willingly put your lives on the line to give to others the strength to fight for that new beginning in America; where if not they, then their children and grandchildren will one day spread their wings in freedom, and the American Eagle will, on their watch, soar to yet new and unexplored heights; and that because of you, our finest hour is yet to come.
We are privileged today to be in the presence of heroes. Mere words of gratitude will never measure up to their devotion to this land.
As Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address: “the world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
Indeed, through no feeble words can we truly consecrate this day, because you already have – through your deeds. So, let us instead be inspired by your sacrifices and resolve to dedicate our lives to preserving and protecting these principles of freedom for which you so valiantly fought.
And is that not something worth fighting for? Where above the misery and sea of despotism – America beckons. America beckons families like mine to risk what little they have in pursuit of that new beginning you gave to me. America, forever defined by its freedom. And, folks, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. In gratitude to the heroes gathered here today, let us resolve to never permit that to happen on our watch. Thank you.
Hell, were half of our own native sons like this man.
Thank your for your words. I’ll see that my son hears about them. God has blessed you with happiness and integrity. You are a great American.
Thank YOU, sir.
I was lucky enough to talk to both my stepsons today. Both are Russian citizens in the U.S. Army. One is an engineer stationed CONUS and one a combat medic in Iraq. SKYPE is a wonderful invention.
Moving ceremony caps Veterans Day celebration - Lassen County Times
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