Obama Marks Memorial Day In Weekly Address

2 years ago

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In his weekly radio and internet address, President Obama reminds Americans that this Memorial Day weekend isn't just about barbecues and beaches and a four day work week. It's about paying tribute to America's servicemen and women – particularly those who died defending their country. The president says the government is working to protect U.S. forces overseas and to make sure they can earn a college degree when they come home "on a Post-9/11 GI Bill that will offer them the same opportunity to live out their dreams that was afforded our greatest generation." Obama urges citizens to volunteer at a clinic treating wounded soldiers or send a care package to troops in Iraq or Afghanistan or at the very least say a simple "'thank you' to a veteran you pass on the street."

That is what Memorial Day is all about. It is about doing all we can to repay the debt we owe to those men and women who have answered our nation's call by fighting under its flag. It is about recognizing that we, as a people, did not get here by accident or good fortune alone. It's about remembering the hard winter of 1776, when our fragile American experiment seemed doomed to fail; and the early battles of 1861 when a union victory was anything but certain; and the summer of 1944, when the fate of a world rested on a perilous landing unlike any ever attempted.

It's about remembering each and every one of those moments when our survival as a nation came down not simply to the wisdom of our leaders or the resilience of our people, but to the courage and valor of our fighting men and women. For it is only by remembering these moments that we can truly appreciate a simple lesson of American life – that what makes all we are and all we aspire to be possible are the sacrifices of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to our nation's founding.

Watch the full address:

Click here for a transcript.

Filed Under: Barack Obama, Iraq, Media, Videos of the Week

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