[0:02] 250 years
ago in the fight for independence,
[0:08] Ordinary people stood up
[0:10] and became
the first veterans of a new nation.
[0:18] They were followed
by those who carried our union
[0:22] through its darkest hour.
[0:27] Brothers and sisters
[0:29] who sacrificed so that the United States
[0:32] might remain whole.
[0:37] From the trenches of France,
[0:40] “3000 miles from home
[0:43] An American army is fighting for you.”
[0:46] to the beaches of Normandy.
[0:48] “You are about to embark upon
the great crusade toward
[0:52] which we have driven the many months.”
to the skies over the Pacific.
[0:57] I think I know the American soldier
and sailor.
[1:00] He does not want gratitude or sympathy.
[1:03] He had a job to do.
[1:08] Each generation answered the call.
[1:16] Through the frozen hills of Korea.
[1:22] And the jungles of Vietnam.
[1:27] They bore the weight of service
[1:29] when our nation needed them most.
[1:34] And in the sands of the Middle East,
[1:38] the mountains of Afghanistan,
[1:46] and in humanitarian missions
around the world,
[1:50] America's
veterans have continued to defend
[1:54] not only our freedom,
but the hope of freedom
[1:58] for others.
[2:03] Across 250 years,
[2:06] their uniforms
and battlefields have changed.
[2:10] But their courage, their sacrifice
[2:13] and their devotion to one another
and to us
[2:17] have never wavered.
[2:21] We remember them all.
[2:25] Those who came home.
[2:28] Those who did not.
[2:35] And those who continue to serve today.
[2:40] Because America's story is their story.
[2:45] And it's a written in every generation.
[2:49] By her veterans.
“On this night of total victory,
[2:54] we salute you
[2:55] of the Armed Forces of the United States.
[2:57] Wherever you may be.