 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Honorable Ray Mavis, Secretary of the Navy, to the distinguished representatives of the Japanese and United States governments, particularly Mr. Tara Motto and General Snowden, to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the United States sailors and Marines, and most notably the veterans of the Battle of Iwo Jima. It is my distinct honor to pay tribute to the unfathomably brave men who fought here seventy years ago. While I cannot begin to understand the hell that enveloped this small Pacific Island for 36 days in 1945, I can't fully appreciate the debt of gratitude owed to the warriors on both sides who withstood that hell and to those who paid the ultimate price. On behalf of generations of grateful Americans, I thank the veterans who sit here among us and those who today are with us only in spirit. Legends of what you did here at Iwo Jima let go through the ages, not just in the Marine Corps, but in the story of America. Thank you. In the midst of the formalities of these ceremonies, I think it's appropriate that we have reflected every speaker on the realities of war. Simply walk through the black sands of Iwo Jima's shores or spend a moment in one of its dark tunnels. Only then can you fowl in the unbelievable and at some level past human fortitude it took to charge these beaches or to fight from an underground labyrinth for 36 days. A few heroes of us can simply wonder with awe and admiration and respect. The description by the Commandant and others of the valent efforts of Marines reminds us to pause and to reflect on the immeasurable sacrifices displayed here, never to be forgotten. But as speaker after speaker has said, we should look to today and to the future as well. While we gather here in commemoration of the 93,000 sons of Japan and the United States who fought on these sands as bitter enemies seven decades ago, there is no better way to honor their legacy than to underscore the bond that now exists between our two great nations as a result of what they did here. We honor the fallen through the strength of our friendship. Rising from the inferno of Iwo Jima, our partnership developed in the wake of war and has grown ever stronger in the years since. Today, the United States and Japan are interdependent. Through cooperation from everything, from international security to free trade, we depend on one another so that each nation may live in peace and prosperity. America and Japan stand together today as sailors, Marines, soldiers, airmen as nations and as friends. An example of this took place in 2011 in the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan. During Operation Tomodachi, the United States Navy and Marine Corps deployed more than 16 ships, 130 aircraft, and 12,000 sailors and Marines. And the USS Ronald Reagan, as I was said, I have never been more encouraged by and proud of the fact that the United States is our ally. To the representatives of Japan here today, we as Americans are equally encouraged and equally proud to say the same thing about Japan. As partners, we will face together whatever challenges the future brings, but we will never forget the lessons of our past. To overcome trying times, we will invoke the character traits demonstrated by the battle for Iwo Shima, honor, courage, sacrifice to the veterans here today, and to you comrades who have been taken by battle or by time, no words will ever adequately express our profound gratitude for what you did and for what it cost you. As we depart and carry the message of remembrance back to the United States and to Japan, I am reminded of a famous World War I epitaph that applies to the heroes of Iwo Shima. When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrows, these gave their today. From the Navy, simple fortice, always courageous, from the Marines, simple peddeles, always faithful.