A Veterans Day Speech – 2009

My thanks to all of you who helped me out on this one.  I tried to incorporate all of your ideas, at least in spirit. Somewhere today, and I’m sorry I can’t tell you exactly where, a crowd of typical, everyday Americans just like you and I will be hearing the following speech – beginning on the eleventh minute, of the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. As it should be.

On October 3, 2009 insurgents attacked an American army outpost in Afghanistan, code named Combat Outpost Keating, or “COP Keating”. Fifty six soldiers faced hundreds of enemy combatants determined to destroy them. In a brutal firefight that lasted well into the night, our troops hung on – just barely – yielding a part of the outpost for a time, but never giving up.

Help arrived, just in time, in the form of air strikes, artillery support and – eventually – reinforcements. But, no matter how hopeless the battle for COP Keating looked, those fifty six brave young men never gave up and never stopped looking out for each other. The wounded even received blood transfusions from their comrades in the midst of the battle. By the time the smoke had cleared, the outpost remained in the Army’s hands. Eight soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice before it was over.

This is the sort of story that we have heard before. American soldiers have displayed this kind of valor and dedication time after time, in places like Guadalcanal and Bastogne during World War II; Pusan and Chipyong-Ni during the Korean War; and at LZ X-Ray and Fire Base Ripcord during the Viet Nam War. Here and at hundreds of other battlefields throughout the centuries – some famous, most virtually unknown – the American soldier has proven how this nation has been blessed with the most professional, honorable and courageous military force in the world.

And where do these remarkable men and women come from? We need not look very far. They are our friends, our neighbors and – sometimes – our family. Some people like to claim that the military represents a “last resort” and those who serve do so out of desperation. But we know that is not true.

We all know the kind of men and women who serve and who have served our nation. We know that they do not join up out of desperation, they serve out of dedication. We know that and we can see that, quite clearly, as we gather here today. They are all among us, representing service from World War II up to and including our present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We all know who they are. Would anyone call these magnificent men and women anything but shining examples of the best America has to offer?

It is remarkable how often service to our country runs in the family. Many men who fought World War II would see their sons fight in the jungles of Viet Nam and they now find their grandsons and granddaughters serving the cause of freedom once again, halfway around the world.

The wife of a veteran, who served recently in Iraq, shared a story that says everything about how we feel about our veterans. She wears a Wounded Warrior Project pin and her four year old son asked about it. He wanted to know what a “wounded warrior” was. She told him they are people who protect us from the bad guys and even go after the bad guys, but sometimes they get hurt, and we have to take care of them. He thought about that for a moment. ”Kinda like super heroes, mommy?” he asked. She replied: “Yes son, they are just like super heroes.”

We honor these heroes today and we renew our pledge to support them with every resource we can. While they are serving, we must give them the provisions, support and tools to accomplish the mission that we have set before them or – if we are unable or unwilling to do so – we must relieve them of the responsibility. We must never again give brave young men and women a difficult task and deny them all the tools to accomplish it.

And, when their service is done, we must not abandon them. If they are hurt, we must care for them. If they need comfort, we must provide to them. And if they want to improve their lives, we must help them do so. Nothing is too good for our veterans. This day, and every day, we salute them and we say “thank you”.

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