President hails veterans
He offers tribute at ship museum
NEW YORK – President Bush wistfully saluted the nation’s veterans Tuesday as he prepares to hand two ongoing wars over to his successor, saying he’ll “miss being the commander in chief of such a fabulous group.”
Bush marked his last Veterans Day as president at a New York pier, speaking to a crowd of thousands bundled against the windy November chill for the rededication ceremony of the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
The president praised veterans in the crowd, including those who served aboard the Intrepid in its long history of military action.
“Today we send a clear message to all who have worn the uniform: Thank you for your courage, thank you for your sacrifice, and thank you for standing up when your nation needed you most,” Bush said.
With a little more than two months until he leaves office, the president teased lawmakers in attendance about the upcoming lame-duck legislative session, and joked that one thing he won’t miss as president is New York City traffic jams.
Then he grew serious.
“I will miss being the commander in chief of such a fabulous group of men and women, those who wear the uniform of the United States military,” Bush said.
Closer to the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney marked Veterans Day by solemnly placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Cheney then offered a glowing tribute to the U.S. armed forces: “No single military power in history has done greater good, shown greater courage, liberated more people, or upheld higher standards of decency and valor.”
The president spoke in the shadow of the Intrepid and near the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, where sailors and Marines peered down on the ceremony from the ship’s deck.
The Intrepid returned last month to the pier after it was moved for extensive repairs and improvements costing nearly $120 million.
Launched in 1943 as one of the Navy’s then-new Essex-class attack carriers, the USS Intrepid figured in six major Pacific theater campaigns including Leyte Gulf, the war’s greatest naval battle. It survived five Japanese kamikaze planes and a torpedo but lost 270 crew members in combat.
After World War II, the Intrepid saw service in the Korean and Vietnam wars and was twice a recovery ship for NASA astronauts.