 My fellow Americans, Memorial Day is a day of ceremonies and speeches. Throughout America today we honor the dead of our wars. We recall their valor and their sacrifices. We remember they gave their lives so that others might live. We're also gathered here for a special event. The National Funeral for an Unknown Soldier who will today join the heroes of three other wars. Not long ago, when a memorial was dedicated here in Washington to our Vietnam veterans, the events surrounding that dedication were a stirring reminder of America's resilience of how our nation could learn and grow and transcend the tragedies of the past. During the dedication ceremonies, the roles of those who died and are still missing were read for three days in a candlelight ceremony at the National Cathedral. And the veterans of Vietnam who were never welcomed home with speeches and bands, but who were never defeated in battle and were heroes as surely as any who have ever fought in a noble cause, staged their own parade on Constitution Avenue. As America watched them, some in wheelchairs, all of them proud, there was a feeling that this nation, that as a nation we were coming together again and that we had at long last welcomed the boys home. The unknown soldier who has returned to us today and whom we later rest is symbolic of all our missing sons. And we will present him with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration that we can bestow. About him we may well wonder, as others have, as a child. Did he play on some street in a great American city? Or did he work beside his father on a farm out in America's heartland? Did he marry? Did he have children? Did he look expectantly to return to a bride? We'll never know the answers to these questions about his life. We do know, though, why he died. He saw the horrors of war but bravely faced them, certain his own cause and his country's cause was a noble one, and he was fighting for human dignity, for free men everywhere. Today we pause to embrace him and all who served us so well in a war whose end offered no parades, no flags, and so little thanks. We can be worthy of the values and ideals for which our sons sacrificed, worthy of their courage in the face of a fear that few of us will ever experience by honoring their commitment and devotion to duty and country. Many veterans of Vietnam still serve in the armed forces, work in our offices, on our farms, in our factories. Most have kept their experiences private, but most have been strengthened by their call to duty. A grateful nation opens her heart today in gratitude for their sacrifice, for their courage, and for their noble service. Let us, if we must, debate the lessons learned at some other time. Today, we simply say with pride, thank you, dear son, may God cradle you in His loving arms. We present to you our nation's highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty, in action with the enemy during the Vietnam era.