At the going down of the sun:

Father in your name we ask theat we given to remember those who gave their last full measure as Lincoln spoke of and that they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

I was with you then as I am now; I crouched in that shallow trench on that hell of exposed fields and orchards ... steeply rising slopes bare of cover that led to the low stonewall ... a landscape pockmarked with war's inevtitable litter ... piles of stores ... equipment ...ammunition ... and the wierd contortions of death sculptured in human flesh ... I saw the going down of the sun on that third day at Gettysburg ... The chaotic maelstrom brothers, enemies, and friends bleeding for their countries.

I fought in the frozen mud of the battlefield ... in a blazing destroyer exploding in the North sea ... I pulled you out of the water in Pearl ... I fought on the perimeter at Tobruk ...crashed in the flaming wreckage of a fighter in New Guinea ... lived with the Damned in the place with the name changi ... I was at Inchon, I saw the fall of Saigon, felt the desert heat in Kuwait, and Iraq. I was with you then as I am now.

I was your mate, your buddy ... the kid across the street ... the student at graduation ... the mechanic in the corner garage ... the baker who made the bread ... the odd-job guy who cut your lawn ... the guy who fixed your phone lines.

I was an army private ... A Naval commander ... an air force bombardier, the Marine next to you ...no man knows me ... no name marks my tomb, for I am every serviceman or women in every war ... I am a veteran of all wars.

I died for a cause I held as just in the service of my country ... that you and yours could say in freedom ... I am proud to be an American.