00:00This is a sacred place, an eternal resting spot for our nation's sons and daughters.
00:08We gather in solemn commemoration of their sacrifice and the sacrifice made by all those
00:16who gave up their lives in service to our beloved country.
00:21In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson laid the cornerstone of the Memorial Amphitheater we
00:27gather in today.
00:30Buried within it was a copper box which contained mementos of profound significance to the amphitheater's
00:37designers and to our entire country.
00:40There were four things, an American flag, a Bible, a copy of our Declaration of Independence,
00:48and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.
00:51In the objects they chose to dedicate to posterity, those Americans remind us of the values we
00:57hold timeless and dear as a nation and as a people.
01:02But those values didn't spring from any stonework or time capsule.
01:07They were lived out day after day by the people buried in this hallowed cemetery.
01:15Each life honored here in Arlington was once full of the ordinary moments and quiet dreams,
01:23of early sunrises, of good days and bad days, of celebrations and disappointments.
01:32They stood not apart from us, but among us, ordinary men and women who chose to shoulder
01:39an impossible burden.
01:42And when we consider what they gave to us, it's common, of course, to focus on their deaths,
01:49on the courage to give in that moment what very few are willing or able to sacrifice.
01:56But the real tragedy of the loss is not in a single moment of suffering as our Gold Star
02:01families know well, but in all the future moments, they and their families lost.
02:07Every moment between their sacrifice on the battlefield and what would have been a natural death.
02:15Because we know they sacrifice not just their physical life, they sacrifice the moments that make that life worthwhile.
02:24They sacrifice a child's embrace, they sacrifice walking their daughter down the aisle, of seeing their
02:32husband or wife after a big promotion of sharing a meal with the family at Thanksgiving.
02:38For my fellow Americans, especially those watching on television, consider the sum of all the moments
02:45that make a good life.
02:47And now appreciate that countless strangers, people most of you never met, they gave up those moments in
02:55their own life so that we could enjoy them in ours.
03:00And that is what Memorial Day is all about.
03:04I once heard a Marine Corps Colonel that I served with, he said this in 2005, not long after a very tough
03:10deployment to Iraq.
03:12He said this about his fallen men, that they were the best looking, they were the kindest,
03:18they were the smartest, they were the most devoted.
03:22They were the very best of us.
03:26To them, we owe everything.
03:29And today, in the peace they bequeathed us, we honor them.
03:35As the Book of Wisdom tells us, but the righteous one, though he die early, shall be at rest.
03:41For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time, nor can it be measured in terms of years.
03:51They laid down their lives for Americans they would never meet, for generations yet unborn,
03:57for a nation that would not exist absent their incredible courage.
04:04Now we know their families in particular have given so much.
04:08And in particular, I want to speak to the gold star families, to the families who have lost a son, a daughter, a husband, or a wife, to every child here who misses your dad or your mom.
04:19Know that your loved one to us is a hero.
04:24And though we cannot know your pain, please know that I speak for the entire nation when I say that we are grateful to them and to you for a debt none of us can possibly repay.
04:38Now all of us will honor the fallen and their families in our own way.
04:43But allow me to suggest two ways of honoring their sacrifice, two ways that I try to honor their sacrifice every day.
04:50First, we ought to commit ourselves and expect from our leaders to treat the lives of our troops as the most precious resource.
05:03The very best way to honor the fallen is to only ask the next generation to make the ultimate sacrifice when they absolutely must.
05:23We must be cautious in sending our people to war.
05:28The second way that I try to honor the fallen is to commit ourselves to being worthy of their sacrifice.
05:38If you're a husband, be the best husband you can be.
05:41If you're a mom, be the best mom that you can be.
05:44If you're a citizen, be the very best citizen that you can be.
05:48Because together, let us build a better country, a more perfect union, and strive to be the kind of nation worthy of the sacrifice of the people that we honor today.
06:00On this Memorial Day, let us remember that we have been given a great gift, often by people none of us ever met.
06:07Let us cherish that gift and make ourselves worthy of it.
06:12May God bless those who gave that gift.
06:15And may he bless the country they sacrificed for.
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