Pence: “The courage of this nation is not found in its hallowed halls or its pillared buildings. The courage of this nation is found in men and women who set aside their lives, their dreams, their own security to preserve that democracy.â€
Indianapolis – Today, Vice President-elect Governor Mike Pence offered remarks before an audience of veterans and their families at a Veterans Day ceremony at Camp Atterbury in Edinburg, Ind. The following are the Vice President-elect’s remarks as delivered.
“The Old Book tells us ‘if you owe debts, pay debts. If honor, then honor. If respect, then respect.’ And it would be in commemoration of the Great War that came to an end on the eleventh day, the eleventh hour, the eleventh month of 1918 that this day in November became sacred and special.
“In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a resolution expanding the scope of what had come to be known as Armistice Day. In his words ‘in order that a grateful nation might pay appropriate homage to the veterans of all its wars who have contributed so much to the preservation of this nation.’ And so was Veterans Day marked and forever enshrined in the hearts of the people of this state and the people of this nation.
“It is on Veterans Day, and Veterans Day in particular, that we pause to honor those who served and came home and the price that each of you paid, that generations of Americans have paid, to preserve our freedom and our way of life.
“We have a day in May where we remember those who served and did not come home. But today is Veterans Day, and it is that one day each year in particular, that we remember all of you. All of you who came home, returned to civilian lives, raised families, built careers, but never really fully left behind those extraordinary days of selfless service. And my hope and my prayer is that today is an encouragement to each of you that in Indiana and all across America, we will never fail to remember the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.
“I will say, it’s humbling for me to be with you today. It’s a joy to be home after a fairly busy time in our family’s life. But, General Carr, I would be nowhere else than here in my beloved home, and here in this very special place of Camp Atterbury, that particularly since the initiation of hostilities in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, both trained and mobilized and demobilized the extraordinary men and women who went forward and fought to preserve our freedom, protect our nation, and advance the cause of freedom in the world. We are proud of Camp Atterbury, General Carr, and we are grateful for your continued leadership in expanding the opportunities here for Indiana’s role in national defense.
“I must say, in this day in November and that day in May are very humbling because I am not a soldier. I am the son of a combat veteran who served in Korea. I am also the proud father of a United States Marine. But I’ve often thought that maybe it’s altogether fitting that those of us who have benefited by the selfless and courageous service of men and women who have answered the call of duty in this country are heard from today. Because it is we who owe the debt to you.
“And so on Veterans Day and on that other precious day in the spring, perhaps its altogether fitting to hear from people like me.
“Here in the state of Indiana, which is home to nearly half a million veterans and the fourth-largest Army National Guard in America, Hoosiers scarcely need to be reminded of the debt of honor that we owe to those who have served.
“We pause today to honor the service and sacrifice of our returning veterans. Those that returned with physical scars and challenges. We have in the state of Indiana, as Director Brown just offered, we have dedicated ourselves in renewed ways in the last four years to meet all the needs, the unique needs, of those who have served in uniform, and I’m proud of the people of Indiana the way we’ve stepped forward for our veterans. And we always will.
“I want to acknowledge the presence, and I’ll ask them to stand because when you serve as a Governor, you get a lot of credit. But you couldn’t work without the partnership of men and women in both political parties in a General Assembly that have cherished and renewed our state’s commitment to our veterans. If Representative Jim Lucas, Senator Greg Walker, Representative Peggy Mayfield, Representative Milo Smith, and Representative Jim Baird. If you all would just stand and turn around and allow – and the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee Representative Randy Frye is here.
“These are all legislators – these are all legislators who have stepped forward and in a very real sense redoubled Indiana’s commitment to veterans, and I, on behalf of the state of Indiana, thank you for cherishing and caring for those who step forward to serve our nation.
“It’s important to recognize that not all of the challenges that our veterans face upon returning home are physical. The truth is that, in recent years, it’s become more apparent to more Americans of the non-physical scars that our veterans bring home. I’m personally grateful to Senator Joe Donnelly, who worked in a bipartisan way to pass legislation this year to ensure that members of our Armed Forces and our veterans have access to counseling to deal with the scars that we do not see.
“I’ll never forget, long after my father had passed away, that I was visiting his cousin in Evansville. And he talked about the way his time in Korea in combat had changed my Dad. He said ‘your Dad was a happy-go-lucky guy growing up on the streets of Chicago, on the south side of Chicago.’ He said ‘he went off to war and his smile was different.’ Like a lot of combat veterans, my Dad was someone who came home with medals on his chest that promptly went in the drawer and he never talked about it.
“Whenever he talked about heroes, Dad would always talk about the friends that didn’t get to come home. When you’d get him to talk about it, he’d marvel how he got to come home and marry this beautiful red-headed Irish girl, raise six precocious kids, and live the American Dream. And I just want you all to know, for those of you that have served, that your fellow countrymen understand that. That there’s a burden that you bear, having worn the uniform, having seen what many of you have seen. And we honor your service and we honor that ongoing burden on this Veterans Day.
“Lastly, I know I speak on behalf of all the veterans who are here when I say that those who serve, and have the great joy of having families, know that they do not serve alone. They did long deployments, faraway places, the families, the spouses, the children who stay home and wait, and pray that through their time of service bear just as much of a burden as the one who wears the uniform, and often do not receive the accolades and the encouragement of those who have served in uniform.
“So on behalf of all the veterans here, let me say thank you to the families of those who have served. Thank you for your service to the country. For their service and sacrifice, we owe veterans and their families a debt we can never fully repay. But we can endeavor to do so on days like today – honoring their service, so they hear from us who have the privilege of serving in public life. The voice of the people in this state, and the voice of the people of this nation who will ever be grateful for your willingness at that time in your life to step forward and put our lives ahead of your own.
“But let me also say that we honor their sacrifice and their service by keeping our promises to our veterans. Let me assure you that our new President-elect and his new Vice President-elect are absolutely committed to reforming the Veterans Affairs Health Administration so that we provide our veterans real-time, world-class health care that they have earned and is their right for having served in uniform.
“Change is coming, and help is on the way to our veterans. And I can assure you that, having traveled with our President-elect and heard him speak with our veterans and to our veterans across the country, he is passionate to keep our promises to our veterans. He and I both understand that the benefits that are available to our veterans are not entitlements. They are part of the ongoing compensation to those who served in the uniform of the United States. And we will ensure that those earned benefits are provided.
“It is very humbling to be with you today, it truly is, and not more than a little bit emotional but I am mindful as I sat down of my prior service in Washington D.C., having just got hired on again.
“I would tell you that it would be sixteen years ago when I was looking to serve my hometown just down the road in Washington D.C. On my first trip to our nation’s capital, I made my way over to the Iwo Jima Memorial and I’ll never forget walking through. I’d read a book about the flag raisers which I’d recommend to anyone here. It’s a very human story about those, about those courageous Marines and one Navy corpsman, raising our flag on Mt. Suribachi. But as I walked through the trees, the sun was setting. As I walked through the trees I was struck with an image which would stay with me throughout all my years of service and I’ll carry that image to my new office that I visited yesterday in the West Wing, and it simply was as I came through the trees I saw that, the largest bronze statue in the world, depicting those flag raisers at Iwo Jima.
“Then beyond it, in the same line of sight was that fair city – the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the United States Capitol, the Whitehouse. I stopped in my tracks. I remember looking out thinking that if I ever have the privilege of serving in that city, that the only picture I would ever have in my office of Washington D.C. would be taken from exactly that spot.
“Because I had concluded that no one should look upon that city without having to look past the heroes that made it possible. So for 12 years in the Congress of the United States and a gift my wife gave me the night I was elected to Congress was a photograph of the Capitol taken from exactly that spot. And I will now take that photograph and hang that photograph in the Office of the Vice President of the United States on January 20.
“This is really what Veterans Day is all about. The courage of this nation is not found in its hallowed halls or its pillared buildings. The courage of this nation is found in men and women who set aside their lives, their dreams, their own security to preserve that democracy.
“And so, today is your day. But just know that your service is enshrined in the hearts of every American and on behalf of the people of Indiana and soon on behalf of the people of the United States of America, I say thank you.
“Thank you for your service. God bless you and your families. As you continue your lives here in the great state of Indiana, just know that your service, your courage and your sacrifice will always be on our hearts and will never fail to inspire. So to all our veterans I say, on behalf of all the people of Indiana, happy Veterans Day.â€
