For the last time as commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama participated in Veterans Day ceremonies honoring those who have served and are serving in the nation’s armed forces Nov. 11 at Arlington National Cemetery.
“We come together to express our profound gratitude for the sacrifices and contributions you and your family made on the battlefield, at home and at outposts around the world,” Obama said after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
The president gave his remarks in front of a crowd gathered inside the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater.
“Veterans Day often follows a hard-fought political campaign, an exercise in the free speech and self-government that you fought for,” said Obama. “It often lays bare disagreements across our nation. But the American instinct has never been to find isolation in opposite corners. It is to find strength in our common creed, to forge unity from our great diversity, to sustain that strength and unity even when it is hard.”
Bob McDonald, Veterans Affairs secretary, defended the Obama administration’s record on veterans issues, noting that the VA’s budget has nearly doubled under Obama’s leadership.
“[Obama] opened VA’s doors to nearly half a million veterans who had lost their eligibility in 2003,” said McDonald. “Today, even though there are 2 million fewer veterans than in 2009, there are nearly 1.2 million more veterans receiving some type of VA care and services.”
McDonald also said veteran homelessness has dropped by half since 2010.
“Veteran unemployment dropped by over half in the last five years,” he said. “Unemployment for post 9/11 veterans has dropped by 70 percent.”
Obama said that veterans don’t always tell their stories, so it’s up to others to ask and listen.
“Whenever the world makes you cynical, whenever you doubt that courage and goodness and selflessness is possible, stop and ask a veteran,” he urged.
The observance drew thousands to the cemetery, including Marine Corps veteran Joe Gordon who lives in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
“This is sacred ground,” he said. “It is always humbling to come here. When you look at the [grave] markers, it’s hard to describe.”
Pentagram Staff Writer Julia LeDoux can be reached at jledoux@dcmilitary.com.