Speeches 2003

May 26, 2003

Remarks by Ambassador Linda Watt Memorial Day Ceremony Corozal Cemetery

It is a great privilege for me to acknowledge the presence here today of members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Elks, and the Shriners. Many are veterans of WWII and Korea, a very special and precious group. I'd like to ask all WWII and Korea veterans here today to stand and be recognized. (PAUSE) It is a very great honor to be here with you, and with all the veterans present as we commemorate Memorial Day.

This beautiful cemetery at Corozal gives us a special perspective, a deeper view of the meaning of dedication and sacrifice. The heroes buried in these tropical hills came to this eternal rest far from their homeland. In representation of all the valiant soldiers who lie in peace here, I ask you to remember Jimmy Chapman, Private First Class, First Cavalry Division, US Army, who died in Vietnam. He lies here in Corozal, at that graveside marked by flowers.

Also resting in Corozal is William Jiles Jinnavan, Seaman Second Class, US Navy, who died in World War II. With us today is his sister, Mrs. Frances Burrows of Tucson Arizona, who has long been searching for her brother's final resting place. Mrs. Burrows' late husband was an admiral in the US Navy. It is a privilege to welcome you here today. Thank you for your service to our country as a military wife.

Today, the United States is a nation at war. The enemy is terrorism. We continue to fight this war in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and we are fighting it around the world.

Many brave Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice in this war. Here are three of them:

Sgt. Michael Bitz, US Marine Corps. From California. A member of the Second Amphibious Assault Battalion at Camp LeJeune. A father of four; never saw his two youngest, twins born a month after he was sent overseas. He died near Nazariya, when Iraqi soldiers opened fire while pretending to surrender.

Corporal Randal Rosacker, US Marine Corps, also from California. Also killed near Nasariya. His father, a Navy Command Master Chief, knew the news was bad when his teenage daughter told him that two Marines and a chaplain were at their door. Master Chief Rosacker had returned just that day from several months of sea duty aboard the Trident submarine, USS Alabama.

Private First Class Lori Piestewa, 507th Maintenance Unit, US Army. From Arizona, one of just a handful of Native American women in the US Army. A mother of two and a source of pride for her Hopi community. "We just had a gentle snowfall," said a tribal leader. "In the Hopi belief, the deceased come back and they visit the family through the moisture. So I think we were very blessed today." Lori Piestewa was just promoted posthumously to Specialist.

I want to highlight the fact that the US Foreign Service also serves and sacrifices on the front lines of freedom. Thomas Foley, a Foreign Service officer with US AID, was killed last fall at his home in Amman, Jordan, a victim of terrorism. Since I have been working for the US government, 27 years, members of the Foreign Service have been killed in the line of duty under heroic circumstances in 36 different countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen, listen to the words of President Bush in his commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy:

"The advance of freedom is more than an interest we pursue. It is a calling we follow. Our country was created in the name and cause of freedom. As a people dedicated to civil rights, we are driven to defend the human rights of others. We are the nation that liberated continents and concentration camps. We are the nation of the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and the Peace Corps.

"We are the nation that ended the oppression of Afghan women, and we are the nation that closed the torture chambers of Iraq. American's national ambition is the spread of free markets, free trade, and free societies. These goals are not achieved at the expense of other nations; they are achieved for the benefit of all nations. America seeks to expand, not the borders of our country, but the realm of liberty." (End quote)

The defense of freedom is not simply a U.S. mission; it is a universal obligation. Attacks on freedom happen everywhere, to all generations. The war against terrorism, tyranny, and injustice has many battles. And we are not alone. We have many allies in this war. Nations all over the planet are cooperating in the war on terror. Panama joined the Coalition of the Willing, an statement of political support that took political courage. It was the right thing to do. And we will not forget that.

In remembering our heroes and heroines today, I ask you to think about these stirring words of John Stuart Mill:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war ? is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

The men and women who died in Iraq, in Vietnam, in Korea, in Europe, those who are buried at Normandy, and at Arlington, and at Corozal, fought for a monumental ideal and for a great country. Those who serve the United States of America today, in the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard, in the Foreign Service, and as civilians in our Embassies all over the world, know the meaning of sacrifice, and are proud to honor our country every day with their service.

God bless all of them and God bless the United States of America.