Long after their honorable discharge, our veterans still symbolize what it means to be a citizen. Go to any community in this country and you will find veterans in positions of service and leadership. In so many ways, veterans live out the meaning of patriotism and idealism and concern for others. Those of us who are the children and grandchildren of veterans have seen those qualities up close -- each of us is better because of the influence of a veteran. And so is America.
America must, and will, keep its word to those men and women who have given us so much. Veterans have been promised good health care when they are sick and disabled; they must be treated with fairness and respect. And to families across this land with loved ones whose fate is still undetermined, America owes the fullest possible accounting of our prisoners of war and those missing in action.
Every veteran once stood ready to give all for our country, and they know that a true soldier never welcomes war. This nation loves peace. We work and sacrifice for peace. Yet America must always be prepared to confront and defeat the enemies of human freedom. And when war is forced upon us, we will see it through to victory.
At this hour, members of our military are serving on the scattered battlefields of a new kind of war. In Afghanistan and beyond, they're on the trail of killers who brought death to the innocent and war to our country. That mission will go on until the terrorists who struck America are fully and finally defeated.
This new kind of war also requires us to confront outlaw regimes that seek and possess the tools of mass murder. We will not permit a dictator who has used weapons of mass destruction to threaten America with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. This great nation -- -- this great nation will not live at the mercy of any foreign plot or power. The dictator of Iraq will fully disarm, or the United States will lead a coalition and disarm him.
Over the generations, Americans in uniform have defended this nation without seeking to dominate any nation. American troops do not come as conquerors, but as liberators. We believe in self-government for every land; and we believe that freedom is the hope of people of all cultures.
By standing for freedom today our military follows in a great tradition of courage and faithful service. Free nations are in debt to the long, distinguished line of American veterans, and all Americans owe our veterans our liberty.
On this Veterans Day, we honor veterans and we honor their families, and we offer the thanks of a grateful nation. May God bless our veterans, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
- President George W. Bush
Remarks by the President to Commemorate Veterans Day Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 11, 2002
So do I. This too shall pass. :-)
Thank you for posting President Bush's remarks at Arlington National Cemetery today. He always makes me proud.