| 00:43:0612 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Thank you. Thank you so much. Please be seated. |
| 00:43:1830 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Thank you, Secretary Gates, and thank you for your extraordinary service to our nation. I think that Bob Gates will go down as one of our finest Secretaries... |
| 00:43:481 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
I also want to say a word about Admiral Mullen. On a day when we are announcing his successor as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as he looks... |
| 00:45:0737 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
It is a great privilege to return here to our national sanctuary, this most hallowed ground, to commemorate Memorial Day with all of you. With Americans... |
| 00:45:4429 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
To those of you who mourn the loss of a loved one today, my heart goes out to you. I love my daughters more than anything in the world, and I cannot... |
| 00:46:131 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
This day is about you, and the fallen heroes that you loved. And it’s a day that has meaning for all Americans, including me. It’s one of my highest... |
| 00:47:1542 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Sometimes a family will write me back and tell me about their daughter or son that they’ve lost, or a friend will write me a letter about what their... |
| 00:47:5723 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Joe, he told me, was a friend of his, one of the best men he’d ever known, the kind of guy who could have the entire barracks in laughter, who was... |
| 00:48:2034 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
He wrote, “The venerable warriors that slumber there knew full well the risks that are associated with military service, and felt pride in defending... |
| 00:48:5432 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Staff Sergeant Joe Phaneuf was a patriot, like all the venerable warriors who lay here, and across this country, and around the globe. Each of them... |
| 00:49:2644 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We memorialize our first patriots -- blacksmiths and farmers, slaves and freedmen -- who never knew the independence they won with their lives. We... |
| 00:50:1047 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
What bonds this chain together across the generations, this chain of honor and sacrifice, is not only a common cause -- our country’s cause -- but... |
| 00:50:5748 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
That’s what we memorialize today. That spirit that says, send me, no matter the mission. Send me, no matter the risk. Send me, no matter how great... |
| 00:51:4541 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
These are questions that cannot be answered by us. But on this day we remember that it is on our behalf that they gave our lives -- they gave their... |
| 00:52:2654 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must. We must honor it in our... |
| 00:53:2040 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
That is how we can honor the sacrifice of those we’ve lost. That is our obligation to America’s guardians -- guardians like Travis Manion. The... |
| 00:54:0044 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
After graduation, they deployed -- Travis to Iraq, and Brendan to Korea. On April 29, 2007, while fighting to rescue his fellow Marines from danger,... |
| 00:54:4436 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Heartbroken, yet filled with pride, the Manions and the Looneys knew only one way to honor their sons’ friendship -- they moved Travis from his cemetery... |
| 00:55:208 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
The friendship between 1st Lieutenant Travis Manion and Lieutenant Brendan Looney reflects the meaning of Memorial Day. Brotherhood. Sacrifice. Love... |