George W. Bush Quotes

The men and women who serve in our military have won for us every hour we live in freedom, sometimes at the expense of the very hours of the lifetimes they had hoped to live.

I think standing and fighting and working alongside all of these people that raise their right hand and serve their nation... really wipes away the distractions of some of the petty things we think are important at home.

Blessed is that country whose soldiers fight for it and are willing to give the best they have, the best that any man has, their own lives, to preserve it, because they love it. Such an army the United States has always commanded in every crisis of its history.

Let me start by saying I wish no country had the need for an army. But in Israel, serving is part of being an Israeli. You've got to give back to the state. You give two or three years, and it's not about you. You give your freedom away. You learn discipline and respect.

As a nation, we must honor the service and sacrifice made by Service members - past and present - to defend our nation and protect the American way of life.

From the depths of the Pacific to the deserts of Iraq, more than a million American soldiers, Airmen, midshipmen, and Marines have laid down their lives for their friends, their families and our nation.

There's men and women who sacrifice and do so much for us so I can go out and play a game of golf and live my life under freedom.

My daddy served in the army where he lost his right eye, but he flew a flag out in our yard until the day that he died. He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me, to grow up and live happy in the land of the free.

Let us never forget that in honoring our flag, we honor the American men and women who have courageously fought and died for it over the last 200 years, patriots who set an ideal above any consideration of self. Our flag flies free today because of their sacrifice.

The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we - in a less final, less heroic way - be willing to give of ourselves.

The 2.4 million bright, brave, incredibly fit and remarkably talented young Americans who have served in our armed forces since we were attacked on 9-11-01 are all volunteers. As General Petraeus put it during a conversation we had in Afghanistan, 'They all came or stayed, knowing they were going to war.' For more than a decade, these patriots and their loved ones have made extraordinary sacrifices for this country. They embody the classical definition of heroes: those who put themselves at risk for the benefit of others.

A hero would die for his country, but he'd much rather live for it.

Audie Murphy remains a shining example for anyone who believes in the importance of service, for generations now and into the future.

Being a soldier, fighting for this country, is neither Republican nor Democrat.

I wish we would all remember that being American is not just about the freedom we have; it is about those who gave it to us.

If you can ask a young man to give his life for his country, you can lead people.

Any man and woman, and I've been on the record, any man or woman who wears the uniform and serves this country is a hero. I've said that repeatedly at all the town halls I've had.

When you think about those of us that live the life that we want to live, we can thank absolutely and completely our men and women in uniform. Because if it were not for them, we wouldn't enjoy the freedoms that we have.

Part of the American dream is to live long and die young. Only those Americans who are willing to die for their country are fit to live.

I wanted to serve. It was Desert Storm. I thought, 'I was a rich kid, and America's been good to me.'

I long to be in the Field again, doing my part to keep the old flag up, with all its stars.

Freedom is a right ultimately defended by the sacrifice of America's servicemen and women.

America's Veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world.

With courage and character, American soldiers continue to put themselves on the line to defend our freedom, and so many have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

As we look forward to freedom, the shining city on the hill and the best days of America lying ahead, it is the men and women in uniform who protect, defend and make us proud to whom we should look and give thanks every night.