Joe Biden on Veterans Day: ‘We Only Have One Truly Sacred Obligation’
“Thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank you very much. And in the short time you’ve been in your position people are beginning to see significant changes. You believe, as I do, that we only have one truly sacred obligation. As a nation, we have a lot of obligations: to the young, to the old, to all the poor. But there’s no obligation that is truly sacred other than the commitment to our veterans. And you carry that with you from your days at West Point to today. And we appreciate it.
To all the distinguished guests here, let me say, particularly to the Gold Star families, to say how much I appreciate the opportunity, the privilege of being able to speak here today. It’s one of the great privileges a president or vice president has, to be able to literally speak on this sacred ground. It’s the second occasion I have in my tenure as vice president.
It’s a beautiful, beautiful autumn day. The sun is shining, the skies are clear, the temperatures perfect. Nothing like the scorching heat, the bitter cold and intense storms that confronted many of you here today and our troops through every conflict in every age.
Today, sunshine is nothing like the scorching heat our veterans endured while battling across the sun-baked Coral Islands in the Pacific, and in some cases, going days without water. Nothing like the hardships faced by a generation of Americans who waded through the rice paddies in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Nothing compared to the 115 degree heat in Fallujah as a young warrior climbed into an MRAP to show me how it saved his life.
Nothing compared to what our young men fought through in 25 degree below zero in the North Korean mountains pinned down by heavy enemy fire in the frozen ground 60 years ago. Nothing compared to the snow and cold that hampered our forces in the Argonne forest 66 years ago.
One of my favorite lines is from a poem, a play by — a book by John Steinbeck, ‘East of Eden,’ where Cyrus Trask describes to his son, Adam, what it means to be a soldier. And here’s what it says. He says to his son, ‘A soldier is the most holy of all humans because he is the most tested. A soldier must coldly learn to put himself in the way of losing his own life without going mad. If you can bring yourself to face not shadows but real death described and recognizable by bullet or saber, arrow or lance, then you need never be afraid again.’
You are the veterans of America, the most trusted among us, and the most tested of all Americans. Collectively, you represent generations of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen who have served and sacrificed for all of us. You were not only the heart and soul but you are the very spine of this nation.
And as a nation we pause today to thank the more than 23 million surviving veterans who have so bravely and faithfully protected our freedom, you gave and they gave and you deserve it.” (Applause)
