For over 200 years, the Army has been at the forefront of defending the freedom that makes our country such a very special place. The Army story is America's story, where men and women are judged not by race or religion or family heritage, but by merit; where anyone with a desire to serve and anyone with the drive and talent can excel.
Since our early days, through the generations that followed, and amid the conflicts, hardships, millions of Americans have risked what the Founders called their lives, their fortune and their sacred honor. They risked it to defend America's ideals and its missions.
Now that duty, that burden -- indeed, that privilege -- falls to this generation, just as it had to earlier generations in past eras and to the veterans we just recognized earlier. Every man and women (sic) serving in uniform is helping to write a new chapter in that glorious history, and I know you will make it a proud chapter.
May God bless the men and women in the United States Army, and may God continue to bless our wonderful country. Thank you very much.
Don't worry if you didn't buy a card to give the Army. If they wanted one, they'd issue you one to give.
