This year has been an extraordinary one for me.  Participation in the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., attendance at the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, and now, we gather here to dedicate this special ground.  Northwest Kansas joins the ranks of sacred places that serve as eternal homes for our nation’s veterans.

Veterans are the people I hold in the highest regard.  Our country is fortunate to have an abundance of men and women who are willing to answer the call of duty and accomplish great things for the benefit of their fellow man.  Even now, a new generation is fighting for the cause of freedom.  And someday soon, they too will bear the honored title, veteran.

In a few weeks, it will be Veterans Day.  On that day we should all ask ourselves, “Are our reasons for living as good as theirs were for dying?”  Eisenhower once said, “History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”  Americans enjoy the freedoms they do today because of our men and women in uniform, and our veterans were neither “weak” nor “timid.”

Earlier this year, I traveled to Normandy for the 60th anniversary of D-Day.  I stood on the sands of the Normandy beaches, saw the waves lapping at the shore, the cliffs ahead.  I tried to imagine what it must have been like for those young men, so many years ago, to disembark from their ships and charge out across the sand.  Many of us today think about veterans as people who are older.  But we forget that the men and women who have served our country were still in their youth – 18, 19, 20-year-olds.  And many of those young people gave up their chance to grow old, and instead made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of freedom.  And so, we come to places like Normandy, France, and WaKeeney, Kansas, and remember them.

Normandy and WaKeeney, though separated by an ocean and half a continent, share the honor of being final resting places for our honored dead.  These places both bear the weight of rows of white headstones.  Whether we stand there, on the beaches, or here, on the plains, we can stand in reverence, and thank God for the bravery of these men and women.  God’s greatest gift is the gift of life.  We thank God for those men and women who sacrificed that gift safeguarding the rights of others – their families, neighbors and for folks they never knew.

In June, I walked through the Capitol Rotunda to pay my respects to President Ronald Reagan.  As I stood there, my gaze fixed upon the flag, draped over his casket.  I thought about Reagan’s love for America.  He, like many of you, was a member of that Greatest Generation.  He shared that generation’s sentiments, that generation’s understanding of the need to serve.  His love of America and his belief in freedom guided him, and by living his convictions, he changed the world. 

Each of you, each of our veterans, has changed the world with your convictions, beliefs and service.

President Reagan’s funeral at the National Cathedral closed with a hymn entitled, “Mansions of the Lord.”  I would like to take a few moments to share it with you:

            To fallen soldiers let us sing

            Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing

            Our broken brothers let us bring

            To the mansions of the Lord

            No more bleeding, no more fight

            No prayers pleading through the night

            Just divine embrace, eternal light

            In the mansions of the Lord

            Where no mothers cry and no children weep

            We will stand and guard though the angels sleep

            Through the ages safely keep

            The mansions of the Lord