WASHINGTON, May 25, 2009
Obama Salutes Troops On Memorial Day
Speaking At Tomb Of The Unknowns In Arlington, President Calls Soldiers "The Best Of America"
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Play CBS Video Video Paying Tribute To Heroes Lost People came from across the country to Washington to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in combat. Joel Brown reports.
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President Obama lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 25, 2009, during a Memorial Day ceremony. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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The president spoke after participating in a solemn holiday tradition, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, the burial ground for American veterans dating to the Revolutionary War.
In brief remarks after laying the wreath and observing a moment of silence, Mr. Obama said he wondered why the country's fallen warriors felt a sense of duty and answered the call to serve, knowing they might have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
"Why in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of narrowest self-interest have the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of this generation volunteered all that they have on behalf of others," he said. "Why have they been willing to bear the heaviest burden?"
"Whatever it is, they felt some tug. They answered a call. They said 'I'll go.' That is why they are the best of America," Mr. Obama said. "That is what separates them from those who have not served in uniform, their extraordinary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met."
The president also sought to dodge a racial controversy the of holiday, sending wreaths to a monument for Confederate soldiers and a memorial honoring more than 200,000 blacks who fought for the Union during the Civil War.
The nation's first black president continued tradition and had wreaths delivered to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, the 600-acre site across the Potomac River in Virginia that once was Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's estate. The White House also sent a wreath to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington's historically black U Street neighborhood.
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Presidents traditionally visit Arlington to personally leave a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, a marble structure with the remains of unidentified U.S. military members who died during war. Presidents then have aides deliver wreaths to other memorials or monuments, generally including the Confederate memorial.
Whatever it is, they felt some tug. They answered a call. They said 'I'll go.' That is why they are the best of America.
President ObamaA group of about 60 professors last week sent a petition to the White House asking Mr. Obama to avoid a memorial for Confederate military members who died during the war between the North and the South.
The White House ignored the plea. Wreaths also were left at the mast of the USS Maine and at the Spanish American War Memorial, a White House aide said.
"The Arlington Confederate Monument is a denial of the wrong committed against African-Americans by slave owners, Confederates and neo-Confederates, through the monument's denial of slavery as the cause of secession and its holding up of Confederates as heroes," the petition said. "This implies that the humanity of Africans and African-Americans is of no significance."
Among those who signed the letter is 1960s radical William Ayers, a University of Chicago education professor who helped found the radical group the Weather Underground that carried out bombings at the Pentagon and the Capitol. Republicans tried to link Mr. Obama with Ayers during the presidential campaign; the two lived in the same neighborhood and served on a charity board together.
The African American Civil War Memorial had been discussed as a compromise in recent days.
"President Obama, why not send two wreaths?" Kirk Savage, an art history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post. "One to the Confederate Memorial in Arlington Cemetery and another to the African American Civil War Memorial in the District, which commemorates the 200,000 black soldiers who fought for liberation from slavery in the Union armed forces."
Men and women in uniform saluted the president's motorcade as it made its way into the hallowed burial ground that is Arlington. As Mr. Obama stepped to the microphone, some in the audience waved American flags.
Before the ceremony, the president had a private breakfast at the White House with people who have lost loved ones in war.
Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, have made veterans and military families a priority during his administration. His budget proposal includes the largest, single-year funding increase in the last three decades to revamp the Department of Veterans Affairs.
© MMIX, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 73 CommentsGive this fraud a year or two, and he'll be below 50. You can take that to the bank.
Posted by TonySerts41 at 10:58 PM : May 25, 2009
LOL IF I were you and part of the Extreme Right, I'd be MORE concerned with my OWN Poll Numbers! There IS no options to this leader PERIOD. The ONLY thing I've heard out of the other side is more of what got the nation into this mess and I sincerely hope you are proposing we put ANY of those leading the Confederate Party in office. It's going to take how long for you poor people to figure out that your hate and division isn't working anymore?
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You happen to have any REAL proof of this sparkey?
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Good post.............
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Can't be worse then the images of dubya holding hands with the king on international television.
and who is Shirley?
Posted by Rowdy1967 at 8:05 PM : May 25, 2009
I would think that it would be kind of hard to be enthusiatic about saluting fallen soldiers.
He was never in the military.
He's putting our military at risk with his war reluctance speech.
It will only provoke attack.
Posted by weedapoopl at 6:12 PM : May 25, 2009
you mean like the way dick was never in the military... and the way bush never showed up?
He was never in the military.
He's putting our military at risk with his war reluctance speech.
It will only provoke attack.
....
Umm you mean like the way Dick was never in the military... and the way Bush never showed up... ?
"They are coming from folks who lived through a Marxist government, much like the one we are going to end up with."
Yep. There will soon be a gov't takeover of McDonald's, Budweiser, Nike, The Gap, Walmart, Sears, Exxon, Cinnabon, Coke, Pepsi, DOW, and ADM among others. It's just a matter of time. And, did you know that Elvis is involved?
He was never in the military.
He's putting our military at risk with his war reluctance speech.
It will only provoke attack.
Posted by weedapoopl at 5:38 PM : May 25, 2009
Ummm, only half the lies?
Posted by _LawyersGuns-n-Money_ at 5:44 PM : May 25, 2009
Neener neener neener neener.
Is that all of them now?
a lie,is a lie, is a lie, no matter where they say it came from
Posted by Strike-Hold at 5:20 PM : May 25, 2009
No, it's the Democrats who lie.
Neener neener.
Posted by Strike-Hold at 5:07 PM : May 25, 2009
And how much military service does Obama have?
Quoting A Russian Newspaper as a credible intelligence source -- makes about as much sense as the Republicans repeatedly quoting Saddam Hussein as a credible intelligence source. When will the Conservatives / Republicans ever learn that enemys' sometimes lie and should never be considered credible without verification, even more so in the case of Iraq where war was either imminent or occurring.
Posted by gravyboat45 at 4:21 PM : May 25, 2009
Peace sign? Well, half of it anyway.
Posted by _LawyersGuns-n-Money_
hehehe
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See all 73 Comments