Barack Obama: Keeping Our Faith With Veterans
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Stumble ThisI'm really surprised this isn't Sifted yet. Obama gave this fantastic speech on veterans' affairs in Charleston, WV on May 12, 2008. A few highlights:
"One of the saddest episodes in our history was the degree to which returning vets from Vietnam were shunned, demonized and neglected by some because they served in an unpopular war. Too many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who ordered the mission, but the young men who simply answered their country's call. Four decades later, the sting of that injustice is a wound that has never fully healed, and one that should never be repeated."
"...we must never forget that honoring this service and upholding these ideals requires more than saluting our veterans as they march by on Veterans Day or Memorial Day. It requires marching with them for the care and benefits they have earned. It requires standing shoulder to shoulder with our veterans and their families after the guns fall silent and the cameras are turned off. At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the second world war, the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us."
"...we'll have a simple principle for veterans sleeping on our streets: zero tolerance. No more homeless veterans."
"When our loved ones do come home, it is time for the United States of America to offer this generation of returning heroes the same thanks we offered that earlier greatest generation--my grandfather's generation--by giving every veteran the same opportunity my grandfather had under the GI bill. There is no reason we shouldn't pass the 21st century GI bill that is currently being debated in congress."
"Abraham Lincoln once said, 'I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. But I also like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.' There is no doubt that we are a nation that is deeply proud of where we live. But it is now our generation's task to live in a way that Stanley Dunham lived; to live the way that those heroes at Walter Reed have lived; the way that all those men and women who put on this nation's uniform live each and every day. It is now our task to live so that America will be proud of us. That is true test of patriotism - the test that all of us must meet in the days and years to come."
"One of the saddest episodes in our history was the degree to which returning vets from Vietnam were shunned, demonized and neglected by some because they served in an unpopular war. Too many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who ordered the mission, but the young men who simply answered their country's call. Four decades later, the sting of that injustice is a wound that has never fully healed, and one that should never be repeated."
"...we must never forget that honoring this service and upholding these ideals requires more than saluting our veterans as they march by on Veterans Day or Memorial Day. It requires marching with them for the care and benefits they have earned. It requires standing shoulder to shoulder with our veterans and their families after the guns fall silent and the cameras are turned off. At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the second world war, the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us."
"...we'll have a simple principle for veterans sleeping on our streets: zero tolerance. No more homeless veterans."
"When our loved ones do come home, it is time for the United States of America to offer this generation of returning heroes the same thanks we offered that earlier greatest generation--my grandfather's generation--by giving every veteran the same opportunity my grandfather had under the GI bill. There is no reason we shouldn't pass the 21st century GI bill that is currently being debated in congress."
"Abraham Lincoln once said, 'I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. But I also like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.' There is no doubt that we are a nation that is deeply proud of where we live. But it is now our generation's task to live in a way that Stanley Dunham lived; to live the way that those heroes at Walter Reed have lived; the way that all those men and women who put on this nation's uniform live each and every day. It is now our task to live so that America will be proud of us. That is true test of patriotism - the test that all of us must meet in the days and years to come."
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