It is an honor to have been asked to speak to all of you today about something that means a great deal to me. I am proud to say that I have served this great country for 23 years in the United States Army, Kansas Army National Guard, and the United States Army Reserve. I am proud to be a veteran.
In 1995 David Hackworth wrote the following in Newsweek. �To warriors the military is like a religious order. It�s not a job. It�s a calling. Not too many people understand that calling or have what it takes.�
What is it that makes the men or women who have served this country different?
The people who have served seem to have a deep and abiding love and respect for this country. We accepted the challenge to protect and defend Her against all threat. Whether or not we have tasted the actual sting of battle, we made a commitment that, if required, we would stand against any foe to the death. In the most basic terms, we were willing to sacrifice our lives in the defense of this country so that present and future generations can continue to experience the freedoms and quality of life that we now enjoy. William Tecumseh Sherman said that �A country and government such as ours are worth fighting for, and dying for, if need be.�
But it�s even more than a commitment to the United States. It is also a commitment to each other. Make no mistake, there is a brotherhood of veterans. It is a brotherhood that was built upon commitment. Alexander George stated in 1972 that �The most significant persons for the combat soldier are the men who fight by his side and share with him the ordeal of trying to survive.� Regardless of the branch of service or job assigned, we are a team. We support each other. And, yes, we are willing to die for each other.
Whenever men and women who have served in the armed forces get together, there is an invisible bond between them. You probably cannot see it physically, but you can sense it. It is there in the eyes when they look at each other. You can hear it in their voice�the almost foreign language that they speak to each other. It is there in the handshake, the touch on the shoulder that communicates to the other, I know you and am here for you�you are my comrade.
We veterans know that this commitment to country and each other did not begin with us. We did not establish these freedoms that we now have. This was all done for us over 200 years ago, when veterans of that earlier time showed us what duty, honor, and country really meant. They established the foundation for what following generations of warriors have carried on. It is extremely important that we never forget the sacrifices that have been made by members of all of the armed services who have preceded us. It is through these sacrifices that we can continue to enjoy our fundamental freedoms.
And that brings us to why we are here. Throughout the annals of our nation�s history there has never been a war in which those who served were treated so shamefully as those who served in Vietnam. It was almost as though our nation wanted to forget that it ever happened. As a result, we have many veterans who suffer both physically and emotionally. They need our support. We may have comrades in arms, living and dead, who have been abandoned in a foreign and hostile land. It is our responsibility to ensure that every possible action is taken to get all of our people home with the honor that is due one who has served their country. We owe a great deal to organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars for their diligence in making sure that we never forget our heritage or the sacrifices that have been made by members of the armed forces in preserving our freedoms.
But it really was not until Jan Scruggs made the Vietnam Memorial his mission that warriors of this war were given their just place in our history. Through �The Wall� much healing has been accomplished. It is more than just some marble monument, though. It has the names of those who made that ultimate sacrifice in that war. Through the memorial, the war now has been personalized and can no longer be ignored.
Millions of people have made the pilgrimage to Washington to see it for themselves. But not everyone can make that trip. I, personally, have never had the opportunity to go to �The Wall.� But I needed to see it. I needed to see Bobby Haney�s name, my friend and Lakeshore High School classmate. And through the �Moving Wall� I can go to Panel 13W, line 127, and see his name.
As was stated in the final line in the movie, To Heal a Nation, which was about the process of the building of the memorial��It�s the names. Yeah, it�s the names.�
