Vice President Cheney Gives Remarks At Veterans Day Wreath Laying Ceremony
11/11/2008 4:57 PM ET
(RTTNews) - Vice President Dick Cheney gave remarks Tuesday at the Veterans Day Wreath Laying Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, where he praised veterans past and present for their service.
Cheney noted that all but one of the four million Americans who served in World War I have passed away, and that he was thinking of the lone survivor, Frank Buckles, with "the greatest respect and pride."
He also noted that several veterans from World War II and all the other major wars through the current War in Iraq were present at the ceremony. "We welcome all of you," Cheney said, "and we thank you for your service and for being here with us today."
"There is no mystery behind the endurance and the success of American liberty," Cheney continued. "It is because in every generation, from the Revolutionary period to this very hour, brave Americans have stepped forward and served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States."
The vice president said, "Military service demands a special kind of sacrifice. The places where you live and serve, the risk you face, the people you deal with every day -- all of these are usually decided by someone else. For the time you spend in uniform, the interests of the nation must always come first."
He added, "Those duties are shared by family members who make many sacrifices of their own, face separation during deployments and sometimes bear extreme and permanent loss."
Still, Cheney did argue that military service brings rewards such as "the pride of developing one's character and becoming a leader, serving a cause far greater than any self interest and knowing that our nation's cause is the hope of the world."
"Many of those heroes rest in places like Anzio and Arlington," Cheney said as he closed his remarks. "Yet so many of them are still with us as friends, as neighbors and colleagues. They are America's veterans, and they are still the pride of our nation. They have fought our wars, defended our shores and kept us free."
by RTT Staff Writer
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As a disabled veteran who served this nation in two wars, Vietnam and Gulf War One, I am dismayed and ashamed that on Veterans Day a 5 deferrement Vietnam war man, was allowed to pay the nations respect to the nations veterans by laying the annual wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, to me his words are offensive
"Military service demands a special kind of sacrifice. The places where you live and serve, the risk you face, the people you deal with every day -- all of these are usually decided by someone else. For the time you spend in uniform, the interests of the nation must always come first."
He added, "Those duties are shared by family members who make many sacrifices of their own, face separation during deployments and sometimes bear extreme and permanent loss."
These sacrifices are something he does not personally know anything about, he was to busy during the Vietnam war to be bothered making any of them. His family has not suffered these sacrifices that he and President Bush have demanded of this modern military during the two wars they have started and left unfinished as they ride off into the sunset.
Still, Cheney did argue that military service brings rewards such as "the pride of developing one's character and becoming a leader, serving a cause far greater than any self interest and knowing that our nation's cause is the hope of the world."
"Many of those heroes rest in places like Anzio and Arlington," Cheney said as he closed his remarks. "Yet so many of them are still with us as friends, as neighbors and colleagues. They are America's veterans, and they are still the pride of our nation. They have fought our wars, defended our shores and kept us free."
These sentiments are not any that can be spoke of him or the President, they used the rules to keep them from the war of their day, yet they have no regrets sending todays young men and women into battle in South West Asia and reeking havoc on their lives and the families lives of the killed in action or the wounded who will require care 24/7 for the rest of their lives.
There are numerous people in the government that could have laid the wreath at the tomb, Admiral Mullens, General Colin Powell, General Barry McCaffrey, General Wesley Clark, any of the Chiefs of Staff of the military branches etc, but to have a man that could not bother fighting his era's war, and see nothing wrong with it, and who was a key man in the lies leading to the war in Iraq, I am left seething, myself Jan 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough, and the hypocrites will be gone.Sphere: Related Content
