bob dole s story is a very american one. born and raised in a three-room house through dust bowl of the great depression, shipped out as a young man to world war ii, wounded in battle. on the same weekend that franklin delano roosevelt was being warned by millions, bob came home, rebuilt his life, painful hour by painful day by painful week by painful month, by painful year. he and danny inoue were wounded on the mountain not far from where he was. talk about the recovery they spent together for all those literally several years is astounding. god, what courage bob dole had.
it has been my honor to go as often as i could to the world war ii memorial here in washington, d.c. to welcome and thank the world war ii veterans and all veterans who are visiting there. since i won t be making that visit anymore, i hope that you will and that you will ask your children and grandchildren to visit veterans memorials across america and to never forget the sec fielder s choice not made just by my generation but by all of those who wear the uniform of our country. my final words are the exact ones that dwight eisenhower used to conclude his speech in abilene nearly seven decades ago. i believe in the future of the
me once. he thought about being buried that which would mean that would be his finley resting place. i think of bob every single time i finished. of course, those are all the hingesing that made bob dole great, but as bill rogers put it the in bunch of his care, it s great to be great but it s far greater to be huin in. almost everyone has heard the bob dole stories of amazing heroics and is recovering from injuries from world war ii. you know that bob cole called a
reflect on their fight to preserve a free world, and there was bob, shaking every hand, posing for every picture, listening to all the stories and the thanks the thanks of a still grateful nation. when elizabeth told us he had passed in his sleep, and whether he all knew that an era had come to an end, my first reaction was one of sadness and grief losing a dear friend and mentor, but then thinking about it, i think the good lord touched bob s hand and told him it was time to come home, see his folks, that there were quite a few world war ii veterans and some from korea and vietnam who were looking forward to thanking him as well as folks
war ii memorial. bob also expressed at the time that there should also be a memorial to ike so that veterans could salute and thank their commanding general. that effort took 24 years, and, again, with bob s help, we dedicated theithe eisenhower memorial last year. bob dole understood that it was not just recognition that this greatest generation deserved. it was reflection and renewal, and it was for the greatest generation to inspire the next generation. there is no better display of division and promise of america than every weekend when the honor flights would roll up to the world war ii memorial, kansas veterans, escorted by kansas high school students, would visit their memorial to