Today, all over America we have set aside this day in our history to  acknowledge our nation's commitment to remember the lives of those who have served in defense of our nation's freedom.

What shall we say about the lives of these Veterans, America's finest heroes?  

The story of their lives is a constant memorial that bear's witness and symbolizes the blood, sweat, and tears of these brave men and women along with that of their families, who were willing to give all they had for their love for America and all in the name of freedom.

Today I am reminded of the words of Stephen Spender's poem that reads: "You are men who in your ``lives fought for life . . . and left the vivid air signed with your honor.''

Our Veterans had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on whatever battlefield they served. It was this deep knowledge -- and their belief in God that made a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. They went to war to liberate, not to conquer, and to free people and not to enslave them and the world has become a better place because of them.

Our nation's rich heritage of brave men and great battles remind us that there are some things worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of our veterans love liberty. All of them were willing to fight tyranny even if it meant paying the ultimate price.

America has learned bitter lessons from all of our wars. We have learned that we must always seek and embrace peace; but we must always be prepared to defend liberty.  

For today is a good day to renew our commitment to our Veterans, to each other, to our country's freedom, and to cause of peace around the world.  

Today, let us renew our vow to our veteran's alive and those who have passed on to their eternal resting place. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for and that every generation of Americans must be willing to do the same as they did if America is to remain the land of the free and the home of the brave. For we all know that "freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."  Let our actions say to them the words for which we find given to us by Almighty God: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."  

Let us be bound to them by their courage, encouraged by their valor, and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

May God bless all of our veteran and may God bless the United States of America!