Political Quotes

“Madam President, panel 2E, row 71. Not long ago, a young lady visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during a visit to Washington, DC. She walked along the wall searching the black granite panels, and she saw the name right there in front of her. She stopped and pressed her hand against it. It was panel 2E, row 71, Alvin C. Forney. Across our country, not just on our National Mall but on the boulevards of our State capitals and in the squares of our small towns, there are names of brave Americans etched in memorials, the names of those who never came home. And there are those who did come home, whose names may not be on monuments but whose example of service and sacrifice for their country is no less inspiring. For two and a half centuries, they have answered the calls. They have protected our freedoms. They placed their lives in the line of fire oceans away so that their countrymen can live lives in peace here at home. They are the citizen soldiers who defeated the King's army, who ended the scourge of slavery, who saved Western civilization and liberated concentration camps, who stood down communism and stand vigil against terrorism. They are more than just names, though. They are the spirit of this country: strong but merciful, forever guarding our freedoms, and devoted to our fellow citizen. Cpl Alvin Forney lived this example out in his all-too-brief life. He seemed destined, no matter his path, to make a difference. And he did.…”