Bush Says Finishing Mission Is Best Memorial to Fallen [View All]

[mopaul]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/politics/30cnd-bush.html?hp&ex=1117512000&en=c01243119bb75ba6&ei=5094&partner=homepage

ARLINGTON, Va., May 30 - President Bush paid a Memorial Day tribute today to generations of Americans who have given their lives for the nation, saying that while the United States has always been a "reluctant warrior," its soldiers have been willing to give their all to rid the world of oppressors and spread the ideals of freedom.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
A U.S. Coast Guard honor guard marched toward a Memorial Day ceremony today at Arlington National Cemetery.
Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Mr. Bush saluted all those who have died in uniform, singling out the more than 400,000 Americans who died in World War II. The United States, he said, "will always honor the character and the achievements of your brave generation."

He then turned to the wars fought under his command, focusing on Iraq, where 139,000 troops are stationed and where 1,647 have died, according to Pentagon figures last updated on Friday. They include 1,264 killed in action. An additional 12,630 had been wounded through Friday, about half of them seriously enough that they did not return to duty.

As he often does, Mr. Bush lumped together the military campaign in Afghanistan, begun in 2001 to root out Al Qaeda and the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks, with the war in Iraq, launched in March

---i especially love that last paragraph.....