SECDEF Releases
2005 Veterans Day Message
Since 11-11-05
Veteran's Day
2005
From:
Waspscpo@aol.com [mailto:Waspscpo@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 3:50 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: SECDEF Releases 2005 Veterans Day Message
SECDEF Releases 2005 Veterans
Day Message
Release Date: 11/10/2005 8:47:00 AM
Special release from the U.S. Department of
Defense
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld released his Veterans
Day message to service members Nov. 9:
My father volunteered to serve in the Navy shortly after the attack on Pearl
Harbor. At 38, he was well beyond draft age, but he wanted to serve. When he
passed away some years ago, I found a letter in his personal papers that he had
received from then Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, who later became our
country's first Secretary of Defense. Secretary Forrestal apparently sent such a
letter to those who served, to arrive after they had returned to civilian life.
Noting the historic achievements made by the U.S. military in World War II,
Secretary Forrestal wrote:
"You have served in the greatest Navy in the world. ... It crushed two enemy
fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart. It brought
our land-based air power within bombing range of the enemy and set our ground
armies on the beachheads of final victory. ... For your part in these
achievements you deserve to be proud as long as you live. The nation you served
at a time of crisis will remember you with gratitude."
That letter hangs on my office wall in the Pentagon as a reminder of the
patriots who have stood between threats and our shores - the millions of
patriots we call veterans.
From the beginning, our country has been challenged by those seeking to change
our way of life - dictators, fascists, communists, and terrorists. Each time, we
have stood against them - from the battles at Lexington and Concord to Fallujah
and Tal Afar. The nature of the threats to our liberty changes over time, but
one thing remains constant: the men and women who proudly step forward, raise a
hand and say, "Send me."
Those who join the United States Armed Forces are following in that noble
tradition of our country. They have volunteered for a cause that is greater than
themselves. No matter where you are deployed, at home or abroad, always remember
that America is not what is wrong with the world. Whether serving for four years
or 40, each of you have made an indelible mark on the cause of liberty.
There are few other professions where you can wake up every day and know that
our nation is safer because of you. And when the time comes to take off that
uniform for the last time, you can be proud to join the company of veterans who
have helped to keep our country safe, keep us free, and preserve our way of life
through the generations.
On this Veterans Day, we thank those serving today and those who have come
before, for truly outstanding service to our country, and for making a proud
history. God bless you all. And God bless our wonderful country.
For more Department of Defense news, visit
www.defenselink.mil.
For more news from around the fleet, visit
www.navy.mil.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)