Memorial Day Quotes: Politicians Honor Armed Forces On National Holiday (PHOTOS)

On the last Monday in May, Americans celebrate Memorial Day to remember the men and women of the armed forces and give thanks for their sacrifices.

Originally known as Decoration Day, the holiday dates back to the 1860s, when it was a day of remembrance for those who died during the Civil War. By the 20th century, it had become a general day of commemoration for fallen veterans of all American wars.

As Memorial Day is celebrated across the nation this weekend, many political leaders have taken a moment to honor those who have given their lives in service to their country.

Below, a look at some of their statements:

President Obama

• • • • • • • • • • • • "This weekend, folks across the country are opening up the pool, firing up the grill, and taking a well-earned moment to relax. But Memorial Day is more than a three-day weekend. In town squares and national cemeteries, in public services and moments of quiet reflection, we will honor those who loved their country enough to sacrifice their own lives for it. ... "Even as we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we reaffirm our commitment to care for those who served alongside them--the veterans who came home. This includes our newest generation of veterans, from Iraq and Afghanistan. ... "But on Memorial Day, we come together as Americans to let these families and veterans know that they are not alone. We give thanks for those who sacrificed everything so that we could be free. And we commit ourselves to upholding the ideals for which so many patriots have fought and died."

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[wolf58]

08:23 AM on 05/29/2012

The President address spoke of honoring those who served.... The Republicans address was to build the keystone pipeline and not one word of those who sacrificed. need I say more?

[ruthtruth]

07:43 AM on 05/29/2012

Would someone on HP please shake the Etch a Sketch so we can see Mitt's statement. I wonder if he told the crowd of his foreign policy so the soldiers know what they would be in for if Mitt became president. I bet he blah, blah, blahed them but not one word on how he wants to go to war with Iran and go after all the bad guys in Afghanistan which would cost more American lives. Well what the heck his sons are safe so no big deal sending other people's sons and daughters into harms way. We all know that he thinks Russia is our big problem. Talk about out of touch !

[pinetarred]

07:33 AM on 05/29/2012

It seemed to me both sides politicised this event! I am not surprise..

[pinetar]

06:33 AM on 05/29/2012

60 minutes aired a story Sunday about a Medal of Honor Recipient who's company came under heavy fire and when he called for air support they recieved NONE for hours resulting in the loss of several men..The 2 officers recieved REPREMANDS, that resulted in their leaving the service.. Had an enlisted man done anything near the deriliction of duty they would have been Courts Martialed!

[johneljuan]

07:15 AM on 05/29/2012

AS A VETRAN I QUICKLY LEARNED THAT RANK DOES HAVE ITS , WELL YOU KNOW THE REST.

[pinetar]

06:29 AM on 05/29/2012

Thru the fog and rhetoric, the reason we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq was??..It's too cloudy to tell!

[johneljuan]

07:16 AM on 05/29/2012

ITS NOT VERY CLEAR YET AS ALQAIDA WAS ALSO IN YEMEN AND SOMALIA, BUT WE DIDNT INVADE THEM. JUST SPECULATING HERE MAYBE ITS OIL AFTER ALL?

[pinetarred]

07:34 AM on 05/29/2012

The CIA's web site for years has said Yemen is the heart of TERRORISM!

[ramm1]

02:21 AM on 05/29/2012

i wish nothing but the best to our finnest

[Berlet98]

02:04 AM on 05/29/2012

In “Memorial Day 2012″, I committed a serious error of omission as well as what liberals would characterize as a grievous blunder in word usage.











In calling for renewed recognition of the meaning of Memorial Day honoring the 1,343,812 men and women who have died in the service of our country, I neglected to mention the tens of millions of veterans of America’s wars who honorably served. I also made the mistake–according to the Left–of calling our war dead “heroes.”










Americans often confuse Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, with another national holiday, Veterans’ Day, originally referred to as Armistice Day.










Memorial Day honors our war dead whereas the latter commemorates the official conclusion of World War One on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. The purpose of Veterans’ day was later changed to celebrate all who have served in America’s military.










In fact, all veterans should be saluted as heroes and remembered in our prayers. The only difference between them and our fallen heroes is that they survived.










Consider showing your appreciation and support for our hero vets by contributing to the very worthy Wounded Warrior Project.










Then, again, are they really “heroes”?










Chris Hayes thinks not.










The leftist weekend host and fill-in for Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, and Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, the cable “news” adjunct of Barack Hussein Obama’s Democrat Party, believes . . .

(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=24720.)

[loves to fish]

02:43 AM on 05/29/2012

You are right our war Veterans need to be appreciated. The honest truth is that Obama has done more for the Veterans than George Bush ever did in his incompetent years in office. Here is a link from Veterans discussing the difference between the two Presidents and what they did to make a Vets life better.
www.youtube.com/watch?=clu8yxTiwg

[Big and Bad]

03:11 AM on 05/29/2012

Puke.

[ruthtruth]

07:49 AM on 05/29/2012

You are right but you won't get anything but negativity for the TP/GOP. They won't believe it no matter what. F&F

[tvdebbe3]

01:53 AM on 05/29/2012

Yes, thank you veterans for your acts of courage.

[LameDuckHunting]

12:27 AM on 05/29/2012

Why can't you see the Romney statement? Did he already walk it back?..........................

[revr]

11:47 PM on 05/28/2012

Some of the comments here are (unintended) hilarious! Obama; played golf today, he didn't serve in Vietnam, wasn't born here (oldie but goodie), and the like.
I had heard, not sure it's true, in 1970 at the age of nine, Obama signed up for military service, and was rejected on the grounds that Americans have to be 18 to apply.
Just something I heard and I have no way of knowing if it's true.

[Ricardo01]

11:29 PM on 05/28/2012

Let's all take a moment to reflect on Romney's service to his country during the Viet Nam war and its draft. Time's up.

[surferlaments]

02:41 AM on 05/29/2012

i served in the u.s. army. i don't think you are much better by posting your political garbage on a story that is honoring military dead and wounded on memorial day. i might have thought a little more of you, if you mentioned that obama didn't serve in the military too. but, that would expect too much from a person of your caliber.

[ruthtruth]

07:47 AM on 05/29/2012

5 sons who forgot to serve too. Such brave men. PU. F&F

[Jeff Bunting]

10:59 PM on 05/28/2012

Romney isn't American, he's a republican.

[surferlaments]

02:44 AM on 05/29/2012

Romney isn't American, he's a republican.

what a stupid statement. no wonder this country is in big trouble. seriously, there must be a clinic in your city. why not turn yourself in?

[ernestvalerius]

11:05 PM on 05/28/2012

Pivot, spin and spew. Try again

[BoycottFox2]

10:40 PM on 05/28/2012

And Mitt was a vietnam draft dodger, peddling his bicycle around France baptizing dead people.

[moonlit]

11:58 PM on 05/28/2012

While knowing he could not be drafted because he took an exemption to go on a mission, Mitt protested against anti-war protesters - rallying for OTHERS to go and lose their lives.

[surferlaments]

02:45 AM on 05/29/2012

tsk...tsk.

[ramm1]

12:16 AM on 05/29/2012

and bush joined tx national so he diddnt have to go just to campain for friends and party true conservitive christian values.thank god for our true american heros

[ppace60657]

09:22 PM on 05/28/2012

This is what the president should have said: "Unlike Republicans, I will never send our troops into battle without the proper body armor and equipment. I will never make our troops spend their own money on body armor and supplies. I will never cut the benefits of our soldiers after I send them into harm's way. And I will never make fun of their sacrifice and say they aren't the troops I want. You have my word."

[bigmackdadee0]

09:49 PM on 05/28/2012

BS