Photo Credit: White House
FROM: AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
President Issues Armed Forces Day Proclamation
WASHINGTON, May 18, 2012 - In a proclamation issued today declaring May 19 as Armed Forces Day, President Barack Obama urged all Americans to recognize and honor U.S. military members for their "unparalleled service" in defense of the nation.
"With every assignment and in every theater, America's men and women in uniform perform their duties with the utmost dignity, honor, and professionalism," Obama said in his proclamation. "Through their dauntless courage and dedication, they live up to our nation's highest ideals in even the most perilous circumstances."
On Armed Forces Day, he continued, Americans "pay tribute to the unparalleled service of our armed forces and recall the extraordinary feats they accomplish in defense of our nation."
America's service members, Obama said, "set extraordinary examples of character for those whose freedom they protect. Together, they comprise the greatest force for freedom and security the world has ever known."
From boot camp to the thick of battle, U.S. service members "look to those with which they stand, shoulder-to-shoulder, knowing they rise and fall as one team. United in their love of country, they teach us the true meaning of words like duty, honor, and strength," The president said in his proclamation.
Besides being leaders and troops, patriots and heroes, U.S. service members "are also parents, spouses, partners, sons, and daughters," Obama said.
"Their families are just as vital to their success as their brothers and sisters in arms, and our debt of gratitude extends to them as well," he added. "As we celebrate the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who make our way of life possible, we also pay our deepest respect to their families, our missing, our wounded, and our fallen.
"Inspired by their service and humbled by their sacrifice," Obama said, "let us recommit to providing all those who have served our nation the support they deserve."
