Bush Honors War Dead at Arlington

President Bush, left, and Maj. Gen. Guy C. Swann III, right,
Commanding General U.S. Army Military District of Washington,
bow their heads during the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb
of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 29, 2006 in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

May 29, 2006

The White House

By NEDRA PICKLER

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - President Bush, visiting America's most hallowed military burial ground to "honor this place where valor sleeps," said Monday the nation must persevere in the war against terrorists for the sake of those have already given their lives in the cause.

Noting that some 270 fighting men and women of the nearly 2,500 who have fallen since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Bush said, "We have seen the costs in the war on terror that we fight today."

"I am in awe of the men and women who sacrifice for the freedom of the United States of America," the president declared, drawing a long standing ovation from the troops, families of the fallen and others gathered at the cemetery's 5,000-seat white marble ampitheater.

"Here in the presence of veterans they fought with and loved ones whose pictures they carried," he said, "the fallen give silent witness to the price of liberty and our nation honors them this day and every day."

Bush said the nation can best honor the dead by "defeating the terrorists. ... and by laying the foundation for a generation of peace."

The president spoke after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He ventured across the Potomac River on a sun-splashed Memorial Day just a short time after signing into law a bill that restricts protests at military funerals.

At the White House, Bush signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act," passed by Congress largely in response to the activities of a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country, claiming the deaths symbolized God's anger at U.S. tolerance of homosexuals.

The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

Monday's observance at Arlington National Cemetery was not a funeral, so demonstrators were free to speak their minds at the site.

And several did.

Approximately 10 people from the Washington, D.C., chapter of FreeRepublic.com, a self-styled grass roots conservative group, held signs at the entrance of the cemetery supporting U.S. troops. A large sign held by several people said, "God bless our troops, defenders of freedom, American heroes."

They were faced off against a handful of anti-gay protesters who stood across a four-lane highway as people headed toward the national burial grounds.

The FreeRepublic.com group was trying to counter demonstrations by the Kansas-based group, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps. He previously had organized protests against those who died of AIDS and gay murder victim Matthew Shepard.

In an interview at the time the House passed the bill that Bush signed Monday, Phelps charged that Congress was "blatantly violating" his First Amendment rights. He said that if became law, he would continue to demonstrate but would abide by the law's restrictions.

Bush signed a second bill Monday that allows combat troops to deposit tax-free pay into individual retirement accounts. Supporters of the legislation argued that rules governing these accounts were punishing soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who earn only tax-free combat pay.

Note:

All I am going to say, when is Mr. bush going to tell the truth? Do what is right, instead of making a bad situation even worse?