WASHINGTON, July 2, 2009 – In his annual
Independence Day message to members of the U.S. armed forces
worldwide, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff evokes
a speech Abraham Lincoln delivered in Chicago in 1858.
Here is Navy Adm. Mike Mullen's holiday message:
“The Fourth of July in America perpetually binds us to the
birth of our Nation – and the spirit of a revolution.
“Eighty-two years after Thomas Jefferson penned the
Declaration of Independence, another future President,
Abraham Lincoln, eloquently defined the Fourth as an annual
celebration of his listeners' enduring connection with their
previous, heroic generation. But, he added, ‘There is
something else.'
“Lincoln then turned the Chicago crowd's attention toward
the millions drawn to and born in America since the
Declaration was signed, and their critical bond to its
timeless truths.
“When they first read its words, and ‘realize they are our
equals in all things,' Lincoln said, ‘they feel [it] is the
father of all moral principle in them. ... That is the
electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of
patriotic and liberty-loving men together ... as long as the
love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the
world.'
“Today, that same electric cord links us to those truths
which, while self-evident, have never been self-endowed.
They are forever worth our defending – in days of peace,
and, as now, in times of war.
“More than 240,000 men and women deployed in harm's way are
defending our rights, and those of mankind, this very
minute. They, and especially their families, know this: as
long as our Nation continues to raise sons and daughters to
sacrifice their individual cares for the greater good of
all, the revolutionary spirit of Jefferson, Lincoln, and our
Republic lives on.
"Happy Birthday, America."
Sincerely,
M.G. Mullen
Admiral, U.S. Navy |
