ADVERTISEMENTS

"Four score & seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty & dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war." - President Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address) 

"Gentlemen of Congress...The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind. It is war against all nations. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made in moderation of counsel and temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation." - President Woodrow Wilson (War Message to Congress, WWI) 

"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7, 1941- a date which will live infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Address to Congress, Pearl Harbor) 

"The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (D-Day Order Speech) 

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"- President Ronald Reagan 

"Tonight, as our forces fight, they and their families are in our prayers. May God bless each and every one of them and the coalition forces at our side in the Gulf, and may He continue to bless our nation, the United States of America." President George H. Bush, (First Gulf War, 1991) 

"Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist attacks. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terrors. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible saddness and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. We're the brightest beacon of freedom and opportunity in the world." - President George W. Bush (September 11, 2001) 

"It is a time to reflect on what this holiday is all about; to pay tribute to our fallen heroes and remember the servicemen and women who cannot be with us this year because they are standing post far from home- in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world. We have a responsibility to serve all of them, as well as they serve all of us. And yet, all too often in recent years and decades, we as a nation have failed to live up to the responsibility. We have failed to give them the support they need or pay them the respect they deserve. That is a betrayal of the sacred trust that America has will who wear- and all who have worn- the proud uniform of our country." - President Barack Obama (Memorial Day, 2009) 

To my many family members who have worn a United States uniform and fought for our country, thank you. For the rest of our US service members, I urge you to take a moment this summer or upcoming holiday season to inquire at your local recruiting post or Veteran hospital about what your local vet community needs. They might need someone willing to bring their sweet puppy over on Tuesday afternoons to let some injured vets pat a loving canine head, or they might ask for donations for care packages sent to single service men and women overseas. And of course, during any time of the year, thoughtful get-well cards are always accepted for our heroes recovering at Walter Reed Hospital. 

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