Obama Memorial Day Speech 2011 Arlington National Cemetery

President Barack Obama commemorated the 2011 National Memorial Day at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. In his Memorial Day speech he said, “The patriots we memorialize today sacrificed not only all they had but all they would ever know. They gave of themselves until they had nothing more to give. It’s natural when we lose someone we care about to ask why it had to be them. ‘Why my son? Why my sister? Why my friend? Why not me?’ These are questions that cannot be answered by us.

“But on this day we remember that it is on our behalf that they gave their lives. We remember it is their courage, their unselfishness, their devotion to duty that has sustained this country through all its trials, and will sustain it through all the trials to come.

“We remember that the blessings we enjoy as Americans came at a dear cost. Our presence in a free society bears testimony to their enduring legacy. Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must. We must honor it in our own lives by holding their memories close to our hearts, and heeding the example they set.

“And we must honor it as a nation by keeping our sacred trust with all who wear America’s uniform and the families who love them – by never giving up the search for those who have gone missing under our country’s flag or held as prisoners of war, by serving our patriots as well as they serve us, from the moment they enter the military to the moment they leave it, to the moment they are laid to rest. That is how we can honor the sacrifice of those we’ve lost. That is our obligation to American’s guardians.”

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