President George W. Bush addresses his remarks at the Memorial Day commemoration ceremony Monday, May 28, 2007, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. White House photo by Shealah Craighead.
On this Memorial Day, as we remember those who fell while preserving for us the freedom we enjoy and sought to extend it to others, George W. Bush’s address notes the sheer numbers of Americans who have sacrificed their lives in that endeavor:
For seven generations, we have carried our fallen to these fields. Here rest some 360,000 Americans who died fighting to preserve the Union and end slavery. Here rest some 500,000 Americans who perished in two world wars to conquer tyrannies and build free nations from their ruins. Here rest some 90,000 Americans who gave their lives to confront Communist aggression in places such as Korea and Vietnam. . . .
Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes — men and women who gave their lives in places such as Kabul and Kandahar, Baghdad and Ramadi. Like those who came before them, they did not want war — but they answered the call when it came. They believed in something larger than themselves. . . .
The greatest memorial to our fallen troops cannot be found in the words we say or the places we gather. The more lasting tribute is all around us — a country where citizens have the right to worship as they want, to march for what they believe, and to say what they think. . . .
As before in our history, Americans find ourselves under attack and underestimated. Our enemies long for our retreat. They question our moral purpose. They doubt our strength of will. Yet even after five years of war, our finest citizens continue to answer our enemies with courage and confidence. Hundreds of thousands of patriots still raise their hands to serve their country; tens of thousands who have seen war on the battlefield volunteer to re-enlist. What an amazing country to produce such fine citizens. . . .
On this Day of Memory, we mourn brave citizens who laid their lives down for our freedom. They lived and died as Americans. May we always honor them.
In an historical sense, we are still where we were on Memorial Day 2006, in the middle of a war against a new totalitarian force in a world-historical conflict whose outcome remains in doubt, as we noted last year:
[W]e tend to think of both World War II and the Cold War as conflicts with a single trajectory toward eventual victory. But history in real time is less clear — a story of mistakes and miscalculations, unforeseen events and remarkable reversals — and perseverance is easier to praise in hindsight than it is while history is actually occurring.
It is still true, as Christopher Hitchens wrote in his essay on Memorial Day last year, that “when we are in mid-conflict with a hideous foe . . . it is too soon to be thinking of memorials to a war not yet won.” But as last year, it is not too soon — and this is the day set aside to do it — to remember the sacrifices of those who fought to establish a better world for our benefit. Hitchens’ words of a year ago are still valid:
This Memorial Day, one might think particularly of those of our fallen who also guarded polling places, opened schools and clinics, and excavated mass graves. They represent the highest form of the citizen, and every man and woman among them was a volunteer. This plain statement requires no further rhetoric.