Bill Clinton: “Thank you very, very much. General Lyles, thank you for your introduction and your service. I'd like to thank General…”

“Thank you very, very much. General Lyles, thank you for your introduction and your service. I'd like to thank General Barnidge for making me feel right at home. You can tell he's pretty proud of you, and he makes a good speech, doesn't he? I didn't know whether he was a politician or a general the first time I met him. [Laughter] I've got the coin, General. [Laughter] I think I know the rules. You got yours? [Laughter] Actually, ladies and gentlemen, when I discovered these coins, I decided one way I could always remember the men and women of our military is to keep every coin I receive visible. And for as long as I have been President, I have done that. And if you saw the speech I gave last night on Kosovo, when the camera zooms in I have three racks of these coins behind me. I now have nearly 300 of these, from every unit, every enlisted person, every officer, every commander that has given me one of these, I still have the coins. And everyone who comes into the Oval Office sees them all, to remember you and what you do for our country. And this will be on that desk tonight when I get home, and I thank you for it very much. I want to thank my good friend Congressman Ike Skelton for representing you so well and representing all of America's military families and military interests so well. I'd like to thank my National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, who did a lot of working in planning and executing our efforts in Kosovo and others who have come here with me today.…”