President Bush marked Memorial Day with a call for Americans to stand firm in their efforts against U.S. enemies around the world and with a tribute to fallen troops.
"From their deaths must come a world where the cruel dreams of tyrants and terrorists are frustrated and foiled, where our nation is more secure from attack and where the gift of liberty is secured for millions who have never known it," he said. "This is our country's calling. It's our country's destiny."
Bush spoke after a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia, addressing a crowd that included relatives of the dead, veterans, military officials and members of Congress and the public."Nothing said today will ease your pain, but each of you need to know that your country thanks you and we embrace you, and we will never forget the terrible loss you have suffered," he said. "I hope you find comfort knowing that your loved ones rest in a place even more peaceful than the fields that surround us here."
Bush noted that Arlington National Cemetery holds the bodies of seven generations of Americans, including 360,000 from the Civil War, 500,000 from World Wars I and II, and 90,000 from the Korean and Vietnam Wars.