America's Fallen Defended 'Vital, Beating Heart of Our Nation'
by C. Todd Lopez, DOD News June 7, 2021
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) started in 1868 to commemorate the
lives of those who died defending the United States during the Civil
War.
Today, it is the day set aside to honor and recognize all who
have died while fighting in the nation's service.
Many of the
service members who died most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan are
now buried in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. While
speaking today at the Memorial Amphitheater at the cemetery,
President Joe Biden said that while walking though Section 60, he is
reminded of the cost of war.
 U.S. President Joe Biden visits Section 60 to pay respect to our nation’s service members, veterans and their family members, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
on April 14, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery)
|
"Hundreds of graves are here
from recent conflicts," Biden said. "Hundreds of patriots gave their
all ... each of them leaving behind a family who live with their
pain in their absence every single day. I want to assure each of
those families — we will never forget what you gave to our country.
We will never fail to honor your sacrifice."
Biden said that
as vice president, he began to carry with him in his pocket the
number of troops who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, he
said, that number stands at 7,036.
"[That's] 7,036 fallen
angels who have lost their lives in these conflicts," he said. "And
on this Memorial Day, we honor the legacy and their sacrifice: duty,
honor, country. They live[d] for it. They died for it. And we as a
nation are eternally grateful."
What America is grateful for,
the president said, is the freedom those men and women secured by
conducting operations on the nation's behalf, and dying while doing
so.
"America has been forged ... in the
fires of war," Biden said. "Our freedom and the freedom of
innumerable others has been secured by young men and women who
answered the call of history, and gave everything in the service of
an idea."
The idea, he said, is that every American is
created equal.
"We're all created equal in the image of
almighty God ... we're all entitled to dignity, as my father would
say, and respect. Decency and honor, love of neighbor — they're not
empty words, but the vital beating heart of our nation.
Democracy must be defended, Biden said, because it is democracy that
makes possible the idea that is the United States.
"Democracy
— that's the soul of America," he said. "I believe it's a soul worth
fighting for, and so do you — a soul worth dying for. Heroes lie in
eternal peace in this beautiful place, this sacred place, [and] they
believed that too."
President Joe Biden, Vice President
Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and Maj.
Gen. Omar J. Jones, commander of Joint Force Headquarters-National
Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, laid a
wreath today at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
 President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Maj. Gen. Omar J. Jones, commander of Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA on May 31, 2021. (Image created from screenshot of Department of Defense video.)
|
Austin
recalled meeting with the widow of one of the service members who
was killed in Afghanistan, and who now lies buried in Section 60 of
Arlington National Cemetery. Marine Corps reservist Staff Sgt. Chris
Slutman was killed by a suicide bomber in Bagram in April 2019; his
widow Shannon and their three children today struggle with the loss.
"She told us that before her husband left on one of his
deployments, she sat him down and said, 'God forbid something
happens to you, but if it does, where do you want me to bury you?'
And he told her, 'I don't care -- I just want to be near you,'"
Austin said.
Gold Star families, such as Shannon and her
children, Austin said, continue to struggle long after the funerals
for their loved ones have ended.
Service members stand at
attention in an amphitheater. A group of service members stand in
a line.
"It is our sacred duty to do more to ease the burden
that they shoulder, on Memorial Day and every day," he said. "For as
long as America has sent our sons and daughters into harm's way,
those on the homefront have also been on the front lines."
More than 1.3 million American service men and women have died as a
result of American wars. Memorial Day commemorates their sacrifices.
"For the loved ones of those who have fallen, let me simply say:
We know the depth of your sacrifice," Austin said. " But we can
never truly know the depth of your loss. What we can do is honor the
memory of those you lost — by caring for those who mourn them ... by
seeking to perfect our union and defend our democracy ... and by
striving to live our lives in ways that advance the ideals for which
they gave their own."
More Heroes
Our Heroes,
America's Best | America's Greatest
Heroes
|
Honoring The Fallen |
Don't Weep For Me |
Remember The Fallen |
Tears For Your Fallen |
Our Wounded
Our Valiant Troops |
I Am The One |
Veterans |
Answering The Call |
Uncommon Valor
|
|