USA — Obama Praises Troops in Independence Day Message

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2010 — In his Inde­pen­dence Day mes­sage, Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma praised Amer­i­can troops, and acknowl­edged the hero­ism of those who have fall­en in the line of duty and their fam­i­lies. The full text of the mes­sage fol­lows:

Today we cel­e­brate the 234th anniver­sary of the sign­ing of the Dec­la­ra­tion of Inde­pen­dence and the begin­ning of a great exper­i­ment, Amer­i­can democracy. 

In every cor­ner of our coun­try, we recall the val­or and vision of patri­ots from Thir­teen Colonies who declared inde­pen­dence from a pow­er­ful empire and gave birth to a new Nation. We gath­er in town cen­ters and wave flags in parades not only to recall this his­to­ry we share, but also to hon­or the vibrant and endur­ing spir­it of Amer­i­ca estab­lished on this day. For those gal­lant first Amer­i­cans, such a Nation as ours may have seemed like an unat­tain­able dream. Their con­cept was rev­o­lu­tion­ary: a gov­ern­ment of, by, and for the peo­ple. Yet, our Founders’ tenac­i­ty, resolve, and courage in the face of seem­ing­ly impos­si­ble odds became the bedrock of our country. 

That essence has per­me­at­ed our land and inspired gen­er­a­tions of Amer­i­cans to explore, dis­cov­er, and rede­fine the out­er reach­es of our infi­nite poten­tial. It has become the foun­da­tion of the Amer­i­can dream. 

This dream has not come with­out tremen­dous cost. From the farm­ers and trades­men who served in mili­tias dur­ing our Amer­i­can Rev­o­lu­tion to the present day women and men pro­tect­ing our Nation around the world, the sac­ri­fices of our Armed Forces have been extraordinary. 

Today we pay trib­ute to our ser­vice­mem­bers, many of whom have paid the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice. We also acknowl­edge the con­tri­bu­tions and sac­ri­fices of their lov­ing fam­i­lies. It is their hero­ism that has paved the remark­able path of freedom’s march. 

Just as this day serves as a reminder of the immea­sur­able brav­ery of those who have made Amer­i­ca what it is today, it also renews in us the solemn duty we share to ensure our Nation lives up to its promise. 

We must not sim­ply com­mem­o­rate the work begun over two and a quar­ter cen­turies ago; we are called to join togeth­er, hoist their man­tle upon our shoul­ders, and car­ry that spir­it of ser­vice into tomorrow. 

Amer­i­ca again faces a daunt­ing set of chal­lenges, yet our his­to­ry shows these are not insur­mount­able. We need only to draw upon the per­se­ver­ance of those before us — our Founders who declared and fought for their ideals; our ances­tors who emi­grat­ed here and strug­gled to build a bet­ter future for their chil­dren; and our pio­neers and entre­pre­neurs who blazed trails that have con­tin­u­al­ly expand­ed our hori­zons. Their spir­it — our spir­it — will guide our Nation now and in our bright future. 

On our Nation’s birth­day, may we come togeth­er in the endur­ing spir­it of Amer­i­ca to begin that work anew. I wish you all the best for a hap­py Fourth of July. May God Bless all those who serve, and may God Bless the Unit­ed States of America. 

BARACK OBAMA 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)