Bush, America Honor Troops on Veterans Day

Nov. 11, 2006 — -- At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, President Bush laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in solemn ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Our nation remembers the moment when the guns of World War I went silent," Mr. Bush said. "And we recognize the service and the sacrifice of our nation's veterans."

In addition to honoring the nation's 24 million military veterans, the president used the event to praise the 1.4 million Americans currently in uniform.

"They are our nation's finest citizens," the president said to applause as he stood beneath a marble archway inscribed with the words of Abraham Lincoln: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

"They've brought down tyrants, they've liberated two nations, they have helped bring freedom to more than 50 million people," Bush said. "Through their sacrifice, they're making this nation safer and more secure."

It was a day of military pomp and solemn ritual. Cannons fired a 21-gun salute. Soldiers in dress uniforms stood at attention along the snaking roads that took the president's motorcade through rows of white marble grave markers.

An Army bugler played taps as Bush stood, his hand over his heart, after placing a wreath before the solid marble monument that rests atop the grave of an unknown casualty from World War I. Beforehand and afterward, the Marine band played patriotic songs.

There were also ceremonies in Iraq, where 144,000 American troops are on duty.

In Baghdad, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad told troops: "In serving in Iraq, you are making history by shaping the future of the world. You are the best fighting force in the world, and you've done your country, the United States, proud."

General George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, told troops they would need courage and determination to see the mission through, but promised they would succeed. Nearly 3,000 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, but no American lives were reported lost today.

As part of the observances in the Iraqi capital, 75 U.S. troops -- immigrants from 33 different countries -- became American citizens, reciting the oath of allegiance.

"It feels great," one of the soldiers said. "It feels like everyone here deserves to be a citizen after fighting this war."

Another 13,000 U.S. troops are on duty in Afghanistan, where some observed a moment of silence.

"Our veterans' time was historic and we honor them," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, the top American commander in Afghanistan, told troops in Bagram. "Our time -- your time -- will be just as historic and the nation honors you."

And there were ceremonies around the United States, including parades in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Bangor, Maine, the groundbreaking for a new veterans cemetery in Des Moines and the unveiling of a Korean War memorial in the town square of Buxton, Maine, population 7,452, which lost 77 residents in that conflict.