Veteran's Day message

[Fritz]

Thought I would pass this message from the Secretary of the Navy to all members of the Navy community along. The formatting is mine, because a real message is very hard on the eyes (ask AE).

America is not just a place; rather, it is an ideal, a profound ideal that all people should live in freedom and liberty. These are not innate rights. Freedom and liberty have to be earned, protected and defended by every generation. As president Reagan said, "freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."

For 229 years, Americans of all races, colors, creeds and social positions have stepped forward in time of need to protect this ideal. Veterans day is the time for our nation to reflect on the sacrifices of these generations of veterans and a time to say thanks for their service.

Today, we find ourselves once again protecting the Americans ideal of freedom and liberty for all people. The magnificent men and women who wear the cloth of our nation, tomorrow's veterans, have taken up the mantle of responsibility to keep America safe for us and for future generations.

We are in an age of great promise, but also an age of great danger - an age when liberty can be expanded but also a time of deadly global terror. It is a historic moment for our nation, a moment that will demand much of our citizens and especially of our military.

With great clarity of vision and unwavering resolve, president Bush has expressed our responsibility this way, "the advance of freedom is the calling of our time, and the calling of our country. We believe that liberty is the design of nature. We believe that liberty is the direction of history and we believe that the freedom we prize is not for us alone, it is the right and capacity of all mankind." As president Bush later said, "we will finish the work of democracy that we have begun."

To all of our veterans who have given us this great gift of freedom and liberty and to all of the men and women who today wear the cloth of our nation and are defending these freedoms and liberties, thank you for your dedication, devotion, sacrifice and commitment to our nation's ideal.

God bless all of our veterans, those serving today and their families.

[Franklinnoble]

Hoo-Ahh!

[SegRat]

Oh... And here I thought this was a birthday wish to me...Well never mind then!

[spleen1015]

Bump

Happy Veterans to those have served and those who are. You have my thanks!