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Originally Processed With FOIA(s): FOIA Number: S S FOIA MARKER This is not a textual record. This is used as an administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential Library Staff. Record Group/Collection: George H.W. Bush Presidential Records Collection/Office of Origin: Speechwriting, White House Office of Series: Speech File Draft Files Subseries: Chron File, 1989-1993 OA/ID Number: 13570 Folder ID Number: 13570-006 Folder Title: Wreath-Laying-Arlington Cemetery 6/5/91 [OA 6034] Stack: Row: Section: Shelf: Position: G 26 17 1 6 Document No. 24334/ WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.m SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE N/C SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER Goup DARMAN N/C ROGICH N/L BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER Rattander GRAY 22% N/C HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. RESPONSE: V PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN - 5 AMII: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy (Porter) ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the (Porter) Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype Here you (smith) hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, (to to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper (Smith) back.) We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen (DOT) Coast Guardsmen + Merchant mariners and marines that any nation every has ever known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came our great Cities and our small towns (120) from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white (Porter) and red and brown, privileged and the poor // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty. " The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # staffed R (Smith/Grossman) June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. / / Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- SO that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # 4204 Document No. 243341 91 JUN 6 WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.m SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN ROGICH BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. June 7, 1991 RESPONSE: TO: TONY SNOW The NSC staff has reviewed and recommends the attached minor changes to the draft speech. R PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Brent Scowcroft Ext. 2702 CC: Phillip Brady (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN-5 AM II: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they' 11 raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer admire answered their country's call -- and never returned. I [love] this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Face Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national [heart] being "rinew work 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the [rugged] cliffs of the Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the of America's plains plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard, They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the right American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast Could be read fairly grandiase bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America Is role for the U.S. as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny 7 // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Freedom Our goal is real peace the triumph of freedom, not / merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. / / Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # WREATH-LAYING \ ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 \ 10 A.M. WE MEET TODAY TO REMEMBER THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES TO THEIR NATION / AND TO THE IDEAL OF FREEDOM / DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM. ALL ACROSS OUR LAND, PEOPLE CELEBRATE OUR VICTORY IN THAT WAR. TROOPS MARCH, CROWDS CHEER, STREAMERS FILL THE AIR. LATER TODAY, CROWDS WILL GATHER TO WATCH TROOPS MARCH TRIUMPHANTLY FROM WASHINGTON TO THE PENTAGON. - 2 - I'M SURE THEY'LL RAISE A HAPPY RUCKUS, THAT THEY'LL EMBRACE OUR TROOPS AND THEIR CAUSE. BUT WAR ALSO DESERVES QUIET, SOBER REMEMBRANCE. HERE IN THIS QUIET PLACE WE CAN OFFER HUMBLE HOMAGE To YOUNG PEOPLE WHO LAST SUMMER ANSWERED THEIR COUNTRY'S CALL -- AND NEVER RETURNED. I ADMIRE THIS PLACE: THIS HILL SLOPING GENTLY TOWARD THE PoToMac; THE GRASSES AND TREES. HERE YOU FIND NO HYPE. HERE YOU HEAR NO SHOUTS AND SCREAMS. - 3 - HERE, TREES RUSTLE AND BIRDS SING. HERE, WE CAN PAUSE TO REMEMBER, TO SIGH, TO FIGHT THE UNTREATABLE ACHE OF LOSS, TO WHISPER SILENTLY TO THOSE WHO CANNOT WHISPER BACK. WE CONFRONT MYSTERIES HERE. WE CELEBRATE THE FACT THAT EACH PERSON WE COMMEMORATE TODAY GAVE UP LIFE FOR PRINCIPLES LARGER THAN EACH OF US -- PRINCIPLES THAT AT THE SAME TIME FORM THE MUSCLE AND SINEW OF OUR NATIONAL HEART. - 4 - DWIGHT EISENHOWER ONCE SPOKE OF THE "MOST ENNOBLING VIRTUES OF MAN -- FAITH, COURAGE, FORTITUDE, SACRIFICE." HE KNEW THAT AMERICA GREW OUT OF BRAVE MEN'S DREAMS OF A COMMONWEALTH OF FREEDOM -- OF VIRTUE. HE KNEW THAT AMERICA ENDURES BECAUSE IT DARES TO DEFEND THAT DREAM. // THAT DREAM LINKS THE FIELDS OF FLANDERS AND THE RUGGED CLIFFS OF NORMANDY. KOREA'S SNOW-COVERED UPLANDS AND THE RICE PADDIES OF MEKONG. // - 5 - IT HAS LIVED IN THE LAST YEAR ON BARREN DESERT FLATS; ON SEA-TOSSED SHIPS; IN JETS STREAKING MILES ABOVE HOSTILE TERRAIN. IT LIVES BECAUSE WE DARED RISK OUR MOST PRECIOUS ASSET: OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS / OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS / OUR HUSBANDS AND WIVES -- THE FINEST SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN, MARINES, COAST GUARDSMEN, AND MERCHANT MARINES THAT ANY NATION EVERY HAS KNOWN. // - 6 - THE HEROES OF OPERATION DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM CAME FROM THE TENEMENTS OF NEW YORK / THE TOWNS OF MISSISSIPPI / THE PLAINS OF AMERICA'S GIANT, SPRAWLING CHECKERBOARD. THEY WERE RURAL AND URBAN, NATIVE-BORN AND FOREIGN-BORN, BLACK AND WHITE AND RED AND BROWN, PRIVILEGED AND THE POOR. // FAR AWAY, THEY BATTLED THE INNER ENEMY OF FEAR AND WON. THEN THEY SET AN EMBATTLED NATION FREE. - 7 - THEY WENT TO THE GULF NOT BECAUSE IT WAS THE EXPEDIENT WAY BUT BECAUSE IT WAS THE AMERICAN WAY. / THEY SHOWED HOW THE HUMAN WILL COULD OUTLAST BAYONETS AND BARBED WIRE. // AND THROUGH THEIR SACRIFICE, THEY RENEWED OUR FAITH IN OURSELVES. // FROM THE TIME OPERATION DESERT SHIELD BEGAN, A SACRED BOND GREW BETWEEN AMERICANS HERE AT HOME AND THOSE SERVING IN THE GULF. / THINK OF THE YELLOW RIBBONS THAT JOINED THIS NATION'S HANDS, AND SOULS. - 8 - THINK OF HOW THE AMERICAN FAMILY HAS PERHAPS NEVER BEEN MORE UNITED. // WE PRAYED -- oH, HOW WE PRAYED -- FOR THE HEROES OF THE GULF -- AND FOR THE UNSUNG HEROES -- THE MILITARY FAMILIES. THERE HAVE BEEN NO PARADES FOR THEM, NOR WILL THEY BE IMMORTALIZED IN STATUES AND MONUMENTS. YET IN LITTLE KINDNESSES AND DEEDS, THEY REACHED OUT TO EACH OTHER -- NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR; OFTEN, STRANGER TO STRANGER. THEY GAVE LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS. THEY GAVE BROTHERHOOD. // - 9 - EACH OF YOU HELPED MAKE THE PERSIAN GULF WAR AN HISTORIC WAR. SPOUSES, CHILDREN, PARENTS, FRIENDS -- ALL SHOWING HOW, AS WOODROW WILSON SAID, WAR IS A "DRAMATIC SYMBOL OF A THOUSAND FORMS OF DUTY." THE ENEMIES OF PEACE COULD NOT MATCH THE COMBINED PRAYERS OF 250 MILLION AMERICANS -- AND THE COLLECTIVE COURAGE OF HALF A MILLION TROOPS WHO KNEW THAT AGGRESSION MUST NOT STAND. // - 10 - TODAY, WE COMMEMORATE NOT ONLY HISTORY BUT SACRIFICE AND BRAVERY. / So LET ME CLOSE WITH A STORY OF HOW A WOMAN, DEBBY WYATT, RETURNED FROM NAVAL DUTY IN THE GULF. As HER THREE YOUNG CHILDREN LEAPT INTO HER ARMS, CRYING AND HUGGING, A REPORTER ASKED IF SHE'D DO IT AGAIN. // SHE REPLIED, SIMPLY -- I'D GO BACK TOMORROW IF MY COUNTRY CALLED. // I DON'T KNOW HOW ANYONE CAN FAIL TO TREMBLE -- IN JOY, ADMIRATION AND AWE -- UPON HEARING HER REPLY. - 11 - ANSWERING THE CALL MADE AMERICA FREE, AND ANSWERING THE CALL HAS KEPT US FREE. TODAY, WE HOPE THAT THIS TIME WAS THE LAST TIME -- BUT STAND PREPARED To RESPOND AGAIN SHOULD THERE EVER BE A NEXT TIME. // OUR GOAL IS REAL PEACE -- THE TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM, NOT MERELY THE ABSENCE OF WAR. OUR MEANS IS THE COURAGE, AND CHARACTER, OF A PEOPLE CALLED AMERICANS./ - 12 - LET US REMEMBER THE HEROES OF THE GULF -- THOSE WITH US; THOSE WE HONOR TODAY -- so THAT MANKIND WILL SAY: JUST AS THEY HONORED AMERICA, WE HONORED THEM WITH THE LIVES WE LEAD. // GOD BLESS THEM / LET THEIR GLORY PASS FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT // AND MAY GOD BLESS OUR NATION -- THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. # # # WREATH-LAYING \ ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 \ 10 A.M. WE MEET TODAY TO REMEMBER THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES TO THEIR NATION / AND TO THE IDEAL OF FREEDOM / DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM. ALL ACROSS OUR LAND, PEOPLE CELEBRATE OUR VICTORY IN THAT WAR. THERE'S A NEW AND WONDERFUL FEELING IN AMERICA. TROOPS MARCH, CROWDS CHEER, STREAMERS FILL THE AIR. LATER TODAY, CROWDS WILL GATHER TO WATCH TROOPS MARCH TRIUMPHANTLY FROM WASHINGTON TO THE PENTAGON IN A GRAND PARADE. R " - 2 - BUT WAR ALSO DESERVES QUIET, SOBER REMEMBRANCE. HERE IN THIS QUIET PLACE WE CAN OFFER HUMBLE HOMAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE WHO LAST SUMMER ANSWERED THEIR COUNTRY'S CALL -- AND NEVER RETURNED. I ADMIRE THIS PLACE: THIS HILL SLOPING GENTLY TOWARD THE PoToMac; THE GRASSES AND TREES. HERE YOU FIND NO HYPE. HERE YOU HEAR NO SHOUTS AND SCREAMS. - 3 - HERE, TREES RUSTLE AND BIRDS SING. HERE, WE CAN PAUSE TO REMEMBER, TO SIGH, TO FIGHT THE UNTREATABLE ACHE OF LOSS, TO WHISPER SILENTLY TO THOSE WHO CANNOT WHISPER BACK. WE CONFRONT MYSTERIES HERE. WE CELEBRATE THE FACT THAT EACH PERSON WE COMMEMORATE TODAY GAVE UP LIFE FOR PRINCIPLES LARGER THAN EACH OF US -- PRINCIPLES THAT AT THE SAME TIME FORM THE MUSCLE AND SINEW OF OUR NATIONAL HEART. - 4 - DWIGHT EISENHOWER ONCE SPOKE OF THE "MOST ENNOBLING VIRTUES OF MAN -- FAITH, COURAGE, FORTITUDE, SACRIFICE." HE KNEW THAT AMERICA GREW OUT OF BRAVE MEN'S DREAMS OF A COMMONWEALTH OF FREEDOM -- OF VIRTUE. HE KNEW THAT AMERICA ENDURES BECAUSE IT DARES TO DEFEND THAT DREAM. // THAT DREAM LINKS THE FIELDS OF FLANDERS AND THE RUGGED CLIFFS OF NORMANDY. KOREA'S SNOW-COVERED UPLANDS AND THE RICE PADDIES OF MEKONG. // - 5 - IT HAS LIVED IN THE LAST YEAR ON BARREN DESERT FLATS; ON SEA-TOSSED SHIPS; IN JETS STREAKING MILES ABOVE HOSTILE TERRAIN. IT LIVES BECAUSE WE DARED RISK OUR MOST PRECIOUS ASSET: OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS / OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS / OUR HUSBANDS AND WIVES -- THE FINEST SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN, MARINES, COAST GUARDSMEN, AND MERCHANT MARINES THAT ANY NATION EVERY HAS KNOWN. // - 6 - THE HEROES OF OPERATION DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM CAME FROM THE TENEMENTS OF NEW YORK / THE TOWNS OF MISSISSIPPI / THE PLAINS OF AMERICA'S GIANT, SPRAWLING CHECKERBOARD. THEY WERE RURAL AND URBAN, NATIVE-BORN AND FOREIGN-BORN, BLACK AND WHITE AND RED AND BROWN, PRIVILEGED AND THE POOR. // THEY WERE OUR VERY BEST. FAR AWAY, THEY BATTLED THE INNER ENEMY OF FEAR AND WON. THEN THEY SET AN EMBATTLED NATION FREE. - 7 - THEY WENT TO THE GULF NOT BECAUSE IT WAS THE EXPEDIENT WAY BUT BECAUSE IT WAS THE AMERICAN WAY. / THROUGH THEIR SACRIFICE, THEY RENEWED OUR FAITH IN OURSELVES. // FROM THE TIME OPERATION DESERT SHIELD BEGAN, A SACRED BOND GREW BETWEEN AMERICANS HERE AT HOME AND THOSE SERVING IN THE GULF. / THINK OF THE YELLOW RIBBONS THAT JOINED THIS NATION'S HANDS, AND SOULS. - 8 - THINK OF HOW THE AMERICAN FAMILY HAS PERHAPS NEVER BEEN MORE UNITED. // WE PRAYED -- oH, HOW WE PRAYED -- FOR THE HEROES OF THE GULF -- AND FOR THE UNSUNG HEROES -- THE MILITARY FAMILIES. THERE HAVE BEEN NO PARADES FOR THEM, NOR WILL THEY BE IMMORTALIZED IN STATUES AND MONUMENTS. YET IN LITTLE KINDNESSES AND DEEDS, THEY REACHED OUT TO EACH OTHER -- NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR; OFTEN, STRANGER TO STRANGER. THEY GAVE LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS. THEY GAVE BROTHERHOOD. // - 9 - EACH OF YOU HELPED MAKE THE PERSIAN GULF WAR AN HISTORIC WAR. SPOUSES, CHILDREN, PARENTS, FRIENDS -- ALL SHOWING HOW, AS WOODROW WILSON SAID, WAR IS A "DRAMATIC SYMBOL OF A THOUSAND FORMS OF DUTY." THE ENEMIES OF PEACE, THE BRUTAL AGGRESSORS, COULD NOT MATCH THE COMBINED PRAYERS OF 250 MILLION AMERICANS -- AND THE COLLECTIVE COURAGE OF HALF A MILLION TROOPS WHO KNEW THAT AGGRESSION MUST NOT STAND. // - 10 - TODAY, WE COMMEMORATE NOT ONLY HISTORY BUT SACRIFICE AND BRAVERY. / So LET ME CLOSE WITH A STORY OF HOW A WOMAN, DEBBY WYATT, RETURNED FROM NAVAL DUTY IN THE GULF. As HER THREE YOUNG CHILDREN LEAPT INTO HER ARMS, CRYING AND HUGGING, A REPORTER ASKED IF SHE'D DO IT AGAIN. // SHE REPLIED, SIMPLY -- I'D GO BACK TOMORROW IF MY COUNTRY CALLED. // I DON'T KNOW HOW ANYONE CAN FAIL To TREMBLE -- IN JOY, ADMIRATION AND AWE -- UPON HEARING HER REPLY. - 11 - ANSWERING THE CALL MADE AMERICA FREE, AND ANSWERING THE CALL HAS KEPT US FREE. TODAY, WE HOPE THAT THIS TIME WAS THE LAST TIME -- BUT STAND PREPARED TO RESPOND AGAIN SHOULD THERE EVER BE A NEXT TIME. // OUR GOAL IS REAL PEACE -- THE TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM, NOT MERELY THE ABSENCE OF WAR. OUR MEANS IS THE COURAGE, AND CHARACTER, OF A PEOPLE CALLED AMERICANS. // - 12 - LET US REMEMBER THE HEROES OF THE GULF -- THOSE WITH US; THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES -- so THAT MANKIND WILL SAY: JUST AS THEY HONORED AMERICA, WE HONORED THEM WITH THE LIVES WE LEAD. // GOD BLESS THEM / AND MAY GOD BLESS OUR NATION. # # # THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN 4/5/91 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN-5 AMII: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / There's a during new wonderful Operation Desert Storm. feeling in America. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. they IN A GRAND PARADE 11 and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN -5 AM II: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Л Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. they PY 11 and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown privileged and the poor. // They were our very best Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / last ba that le or liberty is not // hrough their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // we prayed. oh how or prayid. 3 prayed, From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the the brutal combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective aggression courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those ay -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / next // and God bless our nation : America. who gave their lives # # # # Document No. 243341 WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.m SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN ROGICH BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. RESPONSE: All comments, marks Nollywilliamson PHILLIP D. BRADY 6-6-91 Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN-5 AM II: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters (DOT) / our husbands and wives -- the finest ever soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast buardsmen and Merchant Mariners 'Sailors" "only ines Athat any nation OVONY hashknown. // referts you need Navymen. to + include from ^the The our heroes great cities of Operation of and our Desert small Shield towns and Desert Storm came board York Mississippi ippi M the marines. / the DOT this were of plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were ("tenements both Desert part storm rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white of NY paints a and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // picture of only beachs tb were in Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Hispanics probably some. manine combat por zone. Then wrong image they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf topresent) services the are in not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast the or are the favies part bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. this // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. / / Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # Document No. 243341 WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM A10: 33 DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.m SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN ROGICH BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. RESPONSE: no comment V PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN-5 AMII: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON 91 JUN 6 All: 17 June 6, 1991 MEMORANDUM FOR TONY SNOW DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND DIRECTOR OF SPEECHWRITING FROM: LEE S. LIBERMAN iss ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Presidential Remarks: Wreath Laying Ceremony Counsel's Office has no legal objection to the above-captioned draft speech. Document No. 2433u/ WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.m SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN ROGICH BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. RESPONSE: U PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN -5 AMII: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called." / / I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON 91 1991 MEMORANDUM FOR TONY SNOW FROM: ROGER B. PORTER RBP SUBJECT: Presidential Remarks: Wreath-Laying, Arlington Cemetery We have reviewed the attached presidential remarks and have noted several suggested changes on the draft. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we may help in any other way. Salid speech; some good phrasea. CC: Phillip D. Brady Document No. 243341 WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION a FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN ROGICH BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. RESPONSE: PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN -5 AMII: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy 23 ruckus that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown [privileged and the poor // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf --- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty. " The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. 11 God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next 11 and God bless our nation the United States of America. Document No. 243341 WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM 91 JUN 6 A10: 11 DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.n SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN ROGICH BRADY SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER CARD ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. comments RESPONSE: V PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN -5 AM11: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place we can offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. I love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. 11 It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called." // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. 11 Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # # Document No. 243341 WHITE HOUSESSTAFFING MEMORANDUM P9: 11 DATE: 6/5/91 ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: THURSDAY 6/6/91 10:00 a.m SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING, ARLINGTON CEMETERY ACTION FYI ACTION FYI VICE PRESIDENT MCCLURE SUNUNU PETERSMEYER SCOWCROFT PORTER DARMAN BRADY CARD TOWN ROGICH SMITH BROMLEY UNTERMEYER ROGERS DEMAREST SNOW FITZWATER GRAY HOLIDAY REMARKS: Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122 x2930, no later than 10:00 a.m., Thursday, June 6, with a copy to this office. Thank you. He" loves' this place RESPONSE: of death? Really PHILLIP D. BRADY Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Ext. 2702 (Smith/Grossman) 91 JUN-5 AM II: 28 June 4, 1991 Draft Two STORM PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WREATH-LAYING ARLINGTON CEMETERY SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1991 10 A.M. We meet today to remember the men and women who gave their lives to their nation / and to the ideal of freedom / during Operation Desert Storm. All across our land, people celebrate our victory in that war. Troops march, crowds cheer, streamers fill the air. Later today, crowds will gather to watch troops march triumphantly from Washington to the Pentagon. I'm sure they'll raise a happy ruckus, that they'll embrace our troops and their cause. But war also deserves quiet, sober remembrance. Here in this quiet place We-con-offer humble homage to young people who last summer answered their country's call -- and never returned. love this place: this hill sloping gently toward the Potomac; the grasses and trees. Here you find no hype. Here you hear no shouts and screams. Here, trees rustle and birds sing. Here, we can pause to remember, to sigh, to fight the untreatable ache of loss, to whisper silently to those who cannot whisper back. We confront mysteries here. We celebrate the fact that each person we commemorate today gave up life for principles larger than each of us -- principles that at the same time form the muscle and sinew of our national heart. 2 Dwight Eisenhower once spoke of the "most ennobling virtues of man -- faith, courage, fortitude, sacrifice." He knew that America grew out of brave men's dreams of a commonwealth of freedom -- of virtue. He knew that America endures because it dares to defend that dream. // That dream links the fields of Flanders and the rugged cliffs of Normandy. Korea's snow-covered uplands and the rice paddies of Mekong. // It has lived in the last year on barren desert flats; on sea-tossed ships; in jets streaking miles above hostile terrain. It lives because we dared risk our most precious asset: our sons and daughters / our brothers and sisters / our husbands and wives -- the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that any nation every has known. // The heroes of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm came from the tenements of New York / the towns of Mississippi / the plains of America's giant, sprawling checkerboard. They were rural and urban, native-born and foreign-born, black and white and red and brown, privileged and the poor. // Far away, they battled the inner enemy of fear and won. Then they set an embattled nation free. They went to the Gulf not because it was the expedient way but because it was the American way. / They showed how the human will could outlast bayonets and barbed wire. / They reminded us that America's role as the custodian of liberty is not just our duty but our destiny. // And through their sacrifice, they renewed our faith in ourselves. // 3 From the time Operation Desert Shield began, a sacred bond grew between Americans here at home and those serving in the Gulf. / Think of the yellow ribbons that joined this Nation's hands, and souls. Think of how the American Family has perhaps never been more united. // Every day we knelt on our knees for the heroes of the Gulf -- and for the unsung heroes -- the military families. There have been no parades for them, nor will they be immortalized in statues and monuments. Yet in little kindnesses and deeds, they reached out to each other -- neighbor to neighbor; often, stranger to stranger. They gave love without strings. They gave brotherhood. // Each of you helped make the Persian Gulf War an historic war. Spouses, children, parents, friends -- all showing how, as Woodrow Wilson said, "war is a dramatic symbol for a thousand forms of duty." The enemies of peace could not match the combined prayers of 250 million Americans -- and the collective courage of half a million troops who knew that aggression must not stand. // Today, we commemorate not only history but sacrifice and bravery. / So let me close with a story of how a woman, , returned from naval duty off Saudi Arabia. As her two young daughters leapt into her arms, crying and hugging, a reporter asked if she'd do it again. // She replied, simply -- "I'd go back tomorrow if my country called. " // I don't know how anyone can fail to tremble -- in joy, admiration and awe -- upon hearing her reply. Answering the call 4 made America free, and answering the call has kept us free. Today, we hope that this time was the last time -- but stand prepared to respond again should there ever be a next time. // Our goal is real peace -- the triumph of freedom, not merely the absence of war. Our means is the courage, and character, of a people called Americans. // Let us remember the heroes of the Gulf -- those with us; those we honor today -- so that mankind will say: Just as they honored America, we honored them with the lives we lead. // God bless them / let their glory pass from one generation to the next // and God bless our nation -- the United States of America. # # # #