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Speaker 1: When I think of the great speakers of my time

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Speaker 1: during my lifetime, Ronald Reagan is very high on that list.

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Speaker 1: His delivery was so measured without feeling stuffy. His voice,

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Speaker 1: his timing, his pacing, his voice had a warmth to it,

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Speaker 1: creating a sort of grandfatherly figure out of Ronald Reagan.

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Speaker 1: For all the people who make fun of Donald Trump's hair,

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Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan's hair never moved. It was a helmet, It

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Speaker 1: was plastered down, and it was dyed. He didn't have

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Speaker 1: jet black hair at his age. He had a very,

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Speaker 1: very charming smile which he used to disarm. He used

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Speaker 1: to as almost a weapon. It was hard not to

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Speaker 1: like Ronald Reagan. He had such a smooth, genuine delivery

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Speaker 1: that it was hard not to listen to what he

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Speaker 1: said and come away feeling proud of our country. In

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Speaker 1: this podcast, you will hear his Veterans' Day ceremony at

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Speaker 1: Arlington National Cemetery on November eleventh, nineteen eighty five. Did

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Speaker 1: we play this earlier in the week I feel like

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Speaker 1: we did on one of the shows. I can't remember

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Speaker 1: which one, but Kunda chose it for this weekend, and

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Speaker 1: I'm glad he did because for anybody who didn't hear

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Speaker 1: that you're going to really enjoy this. I know I do.

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Speaker 2: The President of the United States, thank you, thank youry,

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Speaker 2: thank you very much, thank you, thank you all very much.

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Speaker 2: Secretary Wineberger, Harry Walters, Robert Madero's Reverend, Clergy, Ladies, and gentlemen.

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Speaker 2: A few moments ago, I placed a wreath at the

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Speaker 2: tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and as I stepped back

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Speaker 2: and stood during the moment of silence that followed, I

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Speaker 2: said a small prayer. And it occurred to me that

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Speaker 2: each of my predecessors has had a similar moment, and

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Speaker 2: I wondered if our prayers weren't very much.

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Speaker 3: The same, if not identical.

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Speaker 4: We celebrate Veterans Day on the anniversary of the armistice

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Speaker 4: that ended World War One, the armistice that began on

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Speaker 4: the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

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Speaker 4: And I wonder, in fact, if all Americans' prayers aren't

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Speaker 4: the same as those I mentioned a moment ago. The

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Speaker 4: timing of this holiday is quite deliberate in terms of

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Speaker 4: historical fact, but somehow it always seems quite fitting to

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Speaker 4: me that this day comes deep in autumn, when the

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Speaker 4: colors are muted, and the days seem to invite contemplation.

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Speaker 4: We are gathered at the National Cemetery, which provides a

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Speaker 4: final resting place for the heroes who have defended our

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Speaker 4: country since the Civil War. This amphitheater, this place for speeches,

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Speaker 4: is more central to the Cemetery than it first might

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Speaker 4: seem apparent, for all we can ever do for our

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Speaker 4: heroes is remember them and remember what they did, and

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Speaker 4: memories are transmitted through words. Sometime back I received, in

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Speaker 4: the name of our country the bodies of four Marines

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Speaker 4: who had died while on active duty. I said then

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Speaker 4: that there is a special sadness that accompanies the death

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Speaker 4: of a serviceman, for we're never quite good enough to them.

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Speaker 4: Not really, we can't be, because what they gave us

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Speaker 4: is beyond our powers to repay. And so when a

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Speaker 4: service man dies, it's a tear in the fabric, a

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Speaker 4: break in the hole, and all we can do is remember.

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Speaker 4: It is, in a way an odd thing to honor

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Speaker 4: those who died in defense of our country, in defense

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Speaker 4: of us in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick.

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Speaker 4: We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.

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Speaker 4: We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave

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Speaker 4: and gray haired. But most of them were boys when

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Speaker 4: they died, and they gave up two lives, the one

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Speaker 4: they were living and the one they would have lived

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Speaker 4: when they died. They gave up their chance to be

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Speaker 4: husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance

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Speaker 4: to be revered old men. They gave up everything for

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Speaker 4: our country, for us, and all we can do is remember,

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Speaker 4: there's always someone who is remembering for us. No matter

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Speaker 4: what time of year it is or what time of day,

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Speaker 4: there are always people who come to this cemetery leave

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Speaker 4: a flag or a flower or a little rock on

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Speaker 4: a headstone, and they stop and bow their heads and

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Speaker 4: communicate what they wished to communicate. They say, Hello Johnny,

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Speaker 4: or hello Bob. We still think of you, You're still

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Speaker 4: with us. We never got over you, and we pray

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Speaker 4: for you still, and we'll see you again. We'll all

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Speaker 4: meet again. In a way, they represent us, these relatives

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Speaker 4: and friends, and they speak for us as they walk

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Speaker 4: among the headstones, and remember.

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Speaker 3: It's not so.

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Speaker 4: Hard to summon memory, but it's hard to recapture meaning.

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Speaker 4: And the living have a responsibility to remember the conditions

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Speaker 4: that led to the wars in which our heroes died.

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Speaker 4: Perhaps we can start by remembering this, that all of

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Speaker 4: those who died for us and our country were, in

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Speaker 4: one way or another, victims of a peace process that failed,

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Speaker 4: victims of a decision to forget certain things to forget yet,

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Speaker 4: for instance, that the surest way to keep a peace

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Speaker 4: going is to stay strong. Weakness, after all, is a temptation.

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Speaker 4: It tempts the pugnacious to assert themselves. But strength is

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Speaker 4: a declaration that cannot be misunderstood. Strength is a condition

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Speaker 4: that declares actions have consequences. Strength is a prudent warning

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Speaker 4: to the belligerent that aggression need not go unanswered. Peace

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Speaker 4: fails when we forget what we stand for. It fails

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Speaker 4: when we forget that our republic is based on firm principles,

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Speaker 4: principles that have real meaning, that with them we.

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Speaker 3: Are the last best hope of man on earth.

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Speaker 4: Without them, we are little more than the crust of

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Speaker 4: a continent. Peace also fails when we forget to bring

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Speaker 4: to the bar bargaining table. God's first intellectual gift to

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Speaker 4: man common sense. Common sense gives us a realistic knowledge

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Speaker 4: of human beings and how they think, how they live

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Speaker 4: in the world, what motivates them. Common Sense tells us

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Speaker 4: that man has magic in him, but also clay. Common

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Speaker 4: sense can tell the difference between right and wrong. Common

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Speaker 4: Sense forgives error, but it always recognizes it to be error.

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Speaker 3: First.

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Speaker 4: We endanger the peace and confuse all issues when we

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Speaker 4: obscure the truth, when we refuse to name an act

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Speaker 4: for what it is, when we refuse to see the

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Speaker 4: obvious and seek safety in Almighty. Peace is only maintained

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Speaker 4: and one by those who have clear eyes and brave minds.

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Speaker 4: Peace is imperiled when we forget to try for agreements

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Speaker 4: and settlements and treaties, when we forget to hold out

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Speaker 4: our hands and strive, when we forget that God gave

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Speaker 4: us talents to use in securing the ends he desires.

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Speaker 4: Peace fails when we forget that agreements, once made, cannot

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Speaker 4: be broken without a price. Each new day carries within

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Speaker 4: it the potential for breakthroughs, for progress. Each new day

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Speaker 4: bursts with possibilities, and so hope is realistic and despair

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Speaker 4: a pointless little sin. And peace fails when we forget

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Speaker 4: to pray to the source of all peace and life

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Speaker 4: and happiness. I think sometimes of General Matthew Ridgeway, who

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Speaker 4: the night before d Day tossed sleepless on his cot

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Speaker 4: and talked to the Lord and listened for the promise

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Speaker 4: that God made to Joshua, I will not fail THEE

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Speaker 4: nor forsake THEE. We are surrounded to day by the

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Speaker 4: dead of our wars. We owe them a debt we

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Speaker 4: can never repay. All we can do is remember them

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Speaker 4: and what they did, and why they had to be

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Speaker 4: brave for us. All we can do is try to

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Speaker 4: see that other young men never have to join them.

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Speaker 3: Today is today as never before.

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Speaker 4: We must pledge to remember the things that will continue

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Speaker 4: the peace. Today as never before, we must pray for

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Speaker 4: God's help in broadening and deepening the peace we enjoy.

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Speaker 4: Let us pray for freedom and justice and a more

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Speaker 4: stable world. And let us make a compact today with

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Speaker 4: the dead, a promise in the words for which General

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Speaker 4: Ridgway listened, I will not fail THEE nor forsake THEE.

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Speaker 4: In memory of those who gave the last full measure

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Speaker 4: of devotion. May our efforts to achieve lasting peace gain strength,

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Speaker 4: and through whatever coincidence or accident of timing. I tell

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Speaker 4: you that a week from now, when I am some

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Speaker 4: thousands of miles away, Believe me, the memory and the

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Speaker 4: importance of this day will be in the forefront of

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Speaker 4: my mind and in my heart. Thank you, God bless

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Speaker 4: you all, and God bless America.

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Speaker 1: Do you like the Michael Berry Show in podcast. Please

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Speaker 1: directly to the show at our email address, Michael at

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Speaker 1: Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking on our website,

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Speaker 1: Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry Show and Podcast

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Speaker 1: is produced by Ramon Roebliss, the King of Ding. Executive

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Speaker 1: producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.

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Speaker 1: Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided by Chance McLean.

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Speaker 1: Director of Research is Sandy Peterson. Emily Bull is our

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Speaker 1: assistant listener and superfan. Contributions are appreciated and often incorporated

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Speaker 1: into our production. Where possible, we give credit, where not,

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Speaker 1: we take all the credit for ourselves. God bless the

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Speaker 1: memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis. Be a simple

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Speaker 1: man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and God bless America. Finally,

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Speaker 1: if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp

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Speaker 1: Hope at eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD and

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Speaker 1: a combat veteran will answer the phone to provide free

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Speaker 1: counseling