please be seated. good afternoon, everybody. chuck, thank you for your words and your friendship and your life of service. veterans of the vietnam war, families, friends, distinguished guests. i know it is hot. but you are here to honor your loved ones and michelle and i could not be more honored to be here with you. it speaks to the complexity of america s time in vietnam that
[ applause ] let s resolve to take care of our veterans as well as they ve taken care of us. not just talk, but actions. not just in the first five years after a war, but first five decades. for our vietnam veterans, this means the disability benefits for diseases connected to agent orange. it means job opportunities and mental health care to help you stand tall again. it means ending the tragedy of veterans homelessness, so every veteran who s fought for america has a home in america. you shouldn t have to fight for a roof over your heads when you fought on behalf of the country that you love.
public service that has followed. chuck, we thank you for honoring us with your presence today and thank you for your commitment to the united states of america. god bless you. [ applause ] leon, thank you. i am honored to be among you today. and grateful for an opportunity to say a couple of words before i introduce our special guest this afternoon. this uniquely american day, memorial day, was born over 140 years ago of america s civil war. our most costly and terrible war. a war that tore at the heart and fabric of our republic. the next war to tiff void america produced this simple and elegant memorial that watches over us today. it reflects the images of the
sentiments and great set of remarks. our thanks to you both, generals. our thanks to all who have served as we remember on this memorial day, 50 years after the start of the vietnam war, but we honor all those who have served and we thank them. 58,282 names on that wall. that wraps up things for me. thank you for being with us on this memorial day. we now join. we love theme parks but with four kids, it can just be too expensive. yeah, so to save money we just made our own. oh no! what could be worse than ninety-foot swells?!
went through rotc with me at santa clara inscribed on this wall. to know my good friend, eberet alvarez, a hero from this war, and a classmate of mine, served with great distinction in that war. no memorial, no memorial better reflects the pain of the sacrifices that were made. many more came home, came home from that war to a country that failed to fully acknowledge their service and their sacrifice and failed to give them the honor they so justly deserved. that experience, that failure to thank those who were willing to put their lives on the line for this country was burned into the soul of my generation.