May 31, 2004
Today is Memorial Day 2004
President Bush spoke in his Saturday radio address about the War on Terror and Memorial Day:
Those who have fought the battles of the war on terror and served the cause of freedom can be proud of all they have achieved. And these veterans of battle will carry with them, for all their days, the memory of the ones who did not live to be called veterans. Each man or woman we have laid to rest had hopes for the future, and left a place that can never be filled. Each was the most important person in someone's life. For their families there is terrible sorrow, and we pray for their comfort. For the nation, there is a feeling of loss, and we remember each name.Through our history, America has gone to war reluctantly because we have known the costs of war. And in every generation, it is the best among us who are called to pay that price. Those who have paid those costs have given us every moment we live in freedom, and every living American is in their debt. We can never repay what they gave for this country. But on this holiday, we acknowledge the debt by showing our respect and gratitude.
Casualties in war and the defense of freedom did not begin with Iraq and Afghanistan.
The World War I St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial is located at the west edge of Thiaucourt, France. This cemetery, forty acres in extent, contains the graves of 4,153 American military dead from World War I. Most of these gave their lives in the great offensive which resulted in the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient that threatened Paris.
Posted by Alan at May 31, 2004 07:26 AM