Posted on 05/06/2006 3:42:07 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, May 6, 2006 – President Bush today honored the memory of a graduate who died in Iraq during his commencement address at Oklahoma State University. The president noted that 27 members of this year's graduating class are also receiving their commissions as Army or Air Force officers today as graduates of the ROTC program.
Bush commended the new officers for choosing to embrace public service and for following the example set by a 2002 OSU graduate, Luke James.
With a wife and infant son, "Luke had the world at his feet," Bush said. Yet, he chose a life of service and deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a second lieutenant with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. Shortly after arriving, Bush noted, James was killed while leading his troops on patrol. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Luke James is part of a generation who are every bit as selfless and dedicated to liberty as any that came before," Bush said. "And the future of the United States of America is better because of the character of young Americans like Luke James."
The president observed that on the anniversary of her son's death, James' mother went to visit her son's grave, where a young soldier thanked her for raising such a fine young man. The soldier, Bush noted, said that James had saved his life.
The president quoted the lieutenant's mother as saying, "All of Luke's life, he was very dedicated to the concept of freedom. While no soldier wants war, he understood the necessity of war -- that it can ensure the freedoms we enjoy in America."
Bush noted the world's continuing march toward freedom.
"The advance of liberty is the story of our time," he said, "and we're seeing new chapters written before our eyes. Freedom is taking root in places where liberty was once unimaginable."
The president noted that 25 years ago there only 45 democratic countries worldwide; today, 122 nations are democracies. "More people now live in liberty than ever before," he said.
This advance of liberty is a harbinger of greater peace and prosperity for America, Bush said, "free societies are peaceful societies. As freedom spreads, because the threats of tyranny and terror will recede, and the rise of democracy will bring peace to the world and security to the United States America."
It would go right over the heads of our liberal Americans.
So,... you're saying it pass over the weak end.
It doesn't have to go very high to pass over those who have their heads in the sand.
That first sentence was a tough one.
It took me four tries to get it right.
Might be the beers, but did anyone else have a tough time with that?
I thought it was my cutting up raw onions that did that.
The guy needs a name tag so I know which liberal I am looking at.
From the Skinnnnnny plucked chicken's neck ,I think it might be Alan Colmes.
Heard it was a well received speech. I was down in Altus with some others from Cleveland County knocking doors for Mike Schultz who is the Republican in the special senate race for District 38. Great candidate and a lot of Bush supporters in that part of Oklahoma.
GREAT I D!
I wonder about that. If it were generally true, we wouldn't be having troubles making enlistment quotas. (We are going over quota on reenlistment's, which keeps overall numbers up, but will lead to an imbalanced force in the future). We also wouldn't be trying to run a war on the cheap, wouldn't be cutting R&D, procurement, and even housekeeping funding to pay for that "on the cheap" war. For the record given the limits on funding that the administration and Congress have imposed, the right things are being cut back, but it's a short term solution which will cause long term problems.
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