[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[January 12, 2008]
[Pages 70-72]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks to Military Personnel at Camp Arifjan
January 12, 2008
The President. Hooah!
Audience members. Hooah!
The President. Yes, thanks for coming out. [Laughter] It's good to
see you. Command Sergeant Major Harbin, thank--
he's a silver-tongued fox. [Laughter] Thank you for the introduction,
Command Sergeant. I'm honored to be introduced by one of our enlisted
personnel. After all, our military is strong because of the sergeant
corps of the military.
I'm also proud to be with our officers. I particularly want to thank
General Lovelace for his leadership. I'm
honored to be with the brave men and women of the 3d Army. I also offer
greetings to the marines, sailors, airmen, coastguardsmen----
Audience member. Whoo! [Laughter]
The President. ----as well as all the Department of Army civilians--
--
Audience member. Hooray! [Laughter]
The President. I'm here to thank you for your service. I want you to
know, the American people are mighty proud of you, and so am I. Sorry my
wife is not with me. She was here the other day,
though. She sends her best. I'm traveling today with the Secretary of
State, Condoleezza Rice. I just had a
meeting with our Ambassador and our
commander on the ground in Iraq. I'm proud
to be here with Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus.
Since the 3d Army was established at the close of World War I, its
soldiers have proven themselves true to their motto, ``The Third . . .
Always First.'' You're the first bunch I've been talking to here on my
trip, first bunch of those wearing the uniform. People say, ``You
looking forward to the trip?'' I said, one thing I'm really looking
forward to is seeing the men and women who represent the United States
in our military. The reason I am is--anxious to be here is because we
can't thank
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you enough and we can't thank your families enough for doing the hard
work necessary to protect the United States of America.
I appreciate what this 3d Army did in World War II. I hope you do
too, as well. After all, you're members of Patton's own; played a vital
role in the destruction of the Nazi war machine. They helped liberate
about 12,000 towns; at least that's according to the history of the 3d
Army. From their noble ranks came soldiers with some of our Nation's
highest directors [decorations],* including 19 recipients of the Medal
of Honor. You--a distinguished history, and you're making history
yourselves. Sometimes it's hard to forecast what the history pages are
going to see when you're right in the midst of it all. Sometimes it's
hard to judge how the 3d Army will be talked about by future Presidents
when you're in the midst of protecting the country, when you're in the
midst of dealing in a dangerous region.
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* White House correction.
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But I want to tell you what the history will say. The history will
say, it was when you were called upon, you served, and the service you
rendered was absolutely necessary to defeat an enemy overseas so we do
not have to face them here at home. It will say loud and clear that this
military, comprised of brave men and women who sacrificed on behalf of a
noble cause called peace, the men and women of this military understood
that we're in an ideological struggle, that we're facing coldblooded
murderers who kill the innocent to achieve their hateful vision of a
future.
And they understood--history will show that those who wore the
uniform in the beginning of the 21st century understood a timeless
truth: that the ideology of--based upon liberty is necessary for peace;
that in this ideological struggle, on the short term, we will find and
bring the enemies to justice. But in the long term, the best way to
defeat the ideology of hate is, one, with an ideology of hope, and
that's one with liberty at its fundamental core.
It's hard work that you're doing, but it's necessary work. It's hard
to be away from your home, but that's a soldier's life. When you get to
e-mailing your family, you tell them I checked in with you. [Laughter]
And you're looking pretty good. It looks like you haven't missed a meal.
[Laughter] But you also tell them that the message I brought was,
they're in this fight as well. And the citizens of the United States of
America respect our military, and we respect our military families. And
this Government will make sure that our families have a good life, with
good support, when you're deployed overseas.
And so I thank you for what you're doing. There is no doubt in my
mind that we will succeed. There is no doubt in my mind, when history
was written, the final page will say, victory was achieved by the United
States of America for the good of the world; that by doing the hard work
now, we can look back and say, the United States of America is more
secure and generations of Americans will be able to live in peace.
God bless you, and God bless the United States.
Note: The President spoke at 10:38 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to
CSM Don Harbin, USA, command sergeant major, Area Support Group--Kuwait;
Lt. Gen. James L. Lovelace, USA, commanding general, 3d Army; and Gen.
David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq.
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