| Remarks by Governor Kulongoski |
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| May 29, 2006 |
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Memorial Day Ceremony 2006
Thank you John for your generous introduction.
I also want to welcome and thank Colonel Martin, the many representatives from veteran service organizations, the Oregon National Guard, the West Linn High School Band, the Fort Vancouver Bagpipe Band, the Vocal Men’s Trio, and all of the participants in today’s Memorial Day program.
But my most important thank you goes to men and women we remember and honor on Memorial Day – and their families. Many have been laid to rest in the hallowed ground of Willamette National Cemetery. Others at Arlington and communities across America. And still others in faraway places like the hills overlooking Omaha Beach.
Yet, no matter where they have found their lasting peace – they have all found a lasting place in our history, our memory, and our prayers. Having said that, I’m one of those people who think that too many Americans have forgotten the true meaning and purpose of Memorial Day.
Instead of focusing on how much money we can save at department store sales, we should be focusing on the millions of veterans who risked their lives in foreign lands to save our nation from tyranny, and the hundreds of thousands who never made it home to the loving arms of their families.
Let me give you the numbers. World War II – 407,000; Korea – 54,000; Vietnam – 58,000; the Gulf War – 300, with many others whose fate is uncertain because of Gulf War syndrome; Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan – 296; and the Iraq War – 2,466, so far.
But of course, it is not numbers we mourn – it is our brave hearts. Fathers and sons. Mothers and daughters. Brothers and sisters. These brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Merchant Marines loved their country, did their duty, served with honor, and made the ultimate sacrifice.
When they went off to war, their pockets were filled with pictures of loved ones. And their minds were filled with dreams of a long and prosperous life. But their hearts were filled with passion, courage and grace. Passion to defend our nation and its values. Courage to walk into harms way. And grace to serve a cause greater than themselves.
Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. Many cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is evidence that the tradition began before the end of the Civil War, when women’s groups in the south began decorating the graves of Confederate soldiers.
This much we do know: Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1866 by General John Logan, and was first observed two years later on May 30th when flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, a tradition that has evolved from flowers to small American flags.
Since Memorial Day began as a way to honor soldiers killed in the Civil War, it is worth recalling the words of President Lincoln when he dedicated a portion of the Gettysburg battlefield as a final resting place for thousands of young men who died there. He said: “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” Lincoln then continued: “From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.”
One of the ways, our nation has made sure that those who died at Gettysburg giving America a “new birth of freedom” – did not die in vain – is by coming to the defense of freedom many times since. Just look around this beautiful cemetery and you will see names of patriots who lost their lives fighting for democracy and human dignity on the battlefields and in the skies of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and on the high seas in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
But the battle between open and closed societies; between terrorism and tolerance; between hope and despair; between a vision of expanding freedom and a vision of lost liberty – is not over. And neither is America’s leadership in these battles. Today, thousands of young Americans are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 50 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines with connections to Oregon have already died in these two wars; and the Oregon National Guard is about to make its largest single overseas deployment since the Second World War – more than 900 troops to help train the Afghan army.
Which brings me to the most important point I want to make on this day of remembrance: Our obligation to remember all of our veterans, even when they don’t see quite as well – or move quite as fast – as they once did, and are old enough to watch with tears and pride as they’re own children and grandchildren make the same decision to walk into harms way that they made.
So the real test of our national character is not devoting one day each year to honor those who made the supreme sacrifice. It is making sure that our veterans have education, housing, medical care, and survivor benefits; that they are always treated with dignity and respect; and that we never forget that our share of the American Dream was purchased with their military service – and sacrifice.
As most of you know, in my youth I was a Marine – and remain one to this day. I also don’t see quite as well – or move quite as fast as I once did. But I have spent my entire adult life surrounded by men and women for whom “duty, honor and country” are not mere words – they are words that move the soul. And they move mine too.
So for me, doing right for our veterans is a moral obligation every American owes to our past – and an investment in freedom that every American will be able to redeem in the future.
Last year, at a year long, National celebration honoring World War Two veterans, I was honored to speak to members of that “Greatest Generation” in Vancouver, Washington. Most are in their eighties now – and thousands are passing away every year. Our nation kept its promise of education and health care to these heroes of the Greatest Generation who gave not just our nation – but the world – a new birth of freedom.
As a Marine who served in the 1960s, I was able to take advantage of the GI Bill, and it changed my life. I would not be where I am today if the GI Bill hadn’t given me the chance to go to college and law school. But what about today’s young soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines? They’re volunteers. They’re risking their lives. They’re doing their duty. And they’re coming home heroes too.
Will we do what is both smart – and right – for the men and women defending our values today, and for Americans of future generations who may one day be called upon to defend these same values? The answer must be a resounding – yes! Here is how somebody who knew something about fighting for his country put it: “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
Those are the words of George Washington. And they are as true today as they were the day he wrote them. Veterans – all veterans – deserve every laurel, every honor, every tribute, and every word of praise that this nation can bestow. But ceremonies and solemn words – no matter how true and heartfelt – are not enough. We shouldn’t be repaying real service to our country with lip service. That means we must make sure that when our brave troops in Afghanistan and Iraq complete their service – they receive the medical care they need, the education or job training they want, and the economic opportunity they earned.
And for those who come home carried by honor guards, saluted by fellow soldiers, and laid to rest because – in Lincoln’s words – they gave their lives that this nation might live, we must continue to honor and remember them, as a nation on Memorial Day – and as grateful Americans every day.
Thank you. God bless you. And above all – God bless our veterans and their families.
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