President lauds Vietnam veterans during ceremony
President Reagan paid tribute today at Arlington National Cemetery to the 1.2 million men and women who died in America's wars, including "the boys of Vietnam ... who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home.”
In a Memorial Day speech in the amphitheater at the historic cemetery. Reagan said, "Today is the day we set aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again.” It is a day of thanks for the valor of others," he said. "It is a day to be with the family, and remember." Before the speech, Reagan placed a wreath of red, white and blue flowers on the plaza in front of the marble-tiered Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and stood at attention as a Marine buglar played "Taps.” .
Reagan spoke glowingly of the many buried at Arlington, mentioning such military greats as Gen. Omar Bradley and Adm.
River in Washington, with its black wall of names of the more than 58,000 Americans who died in that conflict.
I know that many veterans of Vietnam will gather today, some of them perhaps by the wall,” he said. "They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam, boys who fought a terrible and vicious war without enough support from home, boys who were dodging bullets while we debated the efficacy of the battle.” And they were special in another way: they chose to be faithful, they chose to reject the fashionable skepticism of their time, they chose to believe and answer the all of duty," the president said "They had the wild, wild courage of youth; they seized certainty from th* heart of an ambivalent age; they stood for something
"We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and. perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges, and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.”
On Sunday, other Memorial Day observances throughout the country included the dedication of a memorial to Vietnam veterans at the Presidio in San Francisco. Hundreds of people turned out at the Presidio for the dedication of the 5-foot tall monument.