Chinese language - Bush pays tribute to fallen US troops

WORLD / America

Bush pays tribute to fallen US troops

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-29 08:33

ARLINGTON, Va. - President Bush on Monday honored US troops who have
fought and died for freedom and expressed his steely resolve to succeed
in the war in Iraq. "As before in our history, Americans find ourselves
under attack and underestimated," he said.

President Bush, left, lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, marking
Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2007, at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Va. [AP]

Bush marked his sixth Memorial Day as a wartime president with a somber
speech at Arlington National Cemetery. He said he hoped the United States
will always prove worthy of the sacrifices fallen troops have made, and
recognized the grief suffered by families and friends of troops killed in
war, most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes - men and
women who gave their lives in places such as Kabul and Kandahar, Baghdad
and Ramadi," he said. "Like those who came before them, they did not want
war, but they answered the call when it came. They believed in something
larger than themselves. They fought for our country, and our country
unites to mourn them as one."

The president's motorcade was greeted at Arlington by scores of tourists
who waved at Bush. Just before his limousine crossed over the Potomac
River into Virginia, a man held up a sign saying, "Bring our troops home."

Members of the armed forces carrying rifles fitted with bayonets stood at
attention as Bush's motorcade wended its way through rows of white
tombstones marked with tiny American flags. Some soldiers were astride
horses that flinched when canons were fired, sending bluish white smoke
over the cemetery.

Bush spoke under overcast skies at a marble amphitheater after he laid a
wreath of red, white and blue flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns and
stood, his hand over his heart, during a drum roll and the playing of
Taps. First lady Laura Bush watched the ceremony with relatives of fallen
troops.

Those who have died in the Civil War, World War I, World War II and
Vietnam conflicts fought for freedoms, which come at great cost and will
survive only as long as there are Americans willing to defend the nation
against determined enemies, he said.

"Our enemies long for our retreat," Bush said. "They question our moral
purpose. They doubt our strength of will. Yet even after five years of
war, our finest citizens continue to answer our enemies with courage and
confidence."

He noted that 174 Marines - nearly one-fourth of a battalion - recently
asked to have their enlistments extended.

"Those who serve are not fatalists or cynics," Bush said. "They know that
one day this war will end as all wars do. Our duty is to ensure that its
outcome justifies the sacrifices made by those who fought and died in it.

"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."

At least 3,452 members of the US military have died since the beginning
of the war in Iraq in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
At least 325 members of the US military have died in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the US invasion of Afghanistan in
late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

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