What an honor it was to speak today at the “Restoring
Honor” Rally in D.C. The following is the text of my remarks. You can
click here or here to watch a video of it.
- Sarah Palin
“Restoring Honor” Rally
August 28, 2010
Washington, D.C.
Thank you so much. Are you not so proud to be an American?
What an honor. What an honor.
We stand today at the symbolic crossroads of our nation’s history.
All around us are monuments to those who have sustained us in word or
deed. There in the distance stands the monument to the father of our
country. And behind me, the towering presence of the Great Emancipator
who secured our union at the moment of its most perilous time and freed
those whose captivity was our greatest shame. And over these grounds
where we are so honored to stand today, we feel the spirit of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., who on this very day, two score and seven years ago,
gave voice to a dream that would challenge us to honor the sacred
charters of our liberty – that all men are created equal.
Now, in honoring these giants, who were linked by a solid rock
foundation of faith in the one true God of justice, we must not forget
the ordinary men and women on whose shoulders they stood. The ordinary
called for extraordinary bravery. I am speaking, of course, of America’s
finest – our men and women of uniform, a force for good in this
country, and that is nothing to apologize for.
Abraham Lincoln once spoke of the “The mystic chords of memory,
stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living
heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land.” For over 200 years,
those mystic chords have bound us in gratitude to those who are
willingly to sacrifice, to restrain evil, to protect God-given liberty,
to sacrifice all in defense of our country.
They fought for its freedom at Bunker Hill, they fought for its
survival at Gettysburg, and for the ideals on which it stands – liberty
and justice for all – on a thousand battlefields far from home.
It is so humbling to get to be here with you today, patriots – you
who are motivated and engaged and concerned, knowing to never retreat. I
must assume that you too know that we must not fundamentally transform
America as some would want. We must restore America and restore her
honor!
Now, I’ve been asked to speak today, not as a politician. No, as
something more – something much more. I’ve been asked to speak as the
mother of a soldier, and I am proud of that distinction. You know, say
what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet, and you can’t
take that away from me. I’m proud of that distinction, but it is not one
that I had imagined because no woman gives birth thinking that she will
hand over her child to her country, but that’s what mothers have done
from ancient days.
In cities and towns across our country, you’ll find monuments to
brave Americans wearing the uniforms of wars from long ago, and look
down at their inscriptions, you’ll see that they were so often dedicated
by mothers. In distant lands across the globe, you’ll find silent
fields of white markers with the names of Americans who never came home,
but who showed their dedication to their country by where they died.
We honor those who served something greater than self and made the
ultimate sacrifice, as well as those who served and did come home
forever changed by the battlefield. Though this rally is about
“restoring honor,” for these men and women honor was never lost! If you
look for the virtues that have sustained our country, you will find them
in those who wear the uniform, who take the oath, who pay the price for
our freedom.
And I’d like to tell you three stories of such Americans – three patriots – who stand with us today.
The first is a man named Marcus Luttrell. His story is one of raw
courage in the face of overwhelming odds. It’s also a story of America’s
enduring quest for justice. Remember, we went to Afghanistan seeking
justice for those who were killed without mercy by evil men on September
11th. And one fateful day in Afghanistan on a mountain ridge, Marcus
and three of his fellow Navy SEALs confronted the issue of justice and
mercy in a decision that would forever change their lives.
They were on a mission to hunt down a high-level Taliban leader, but
they were faced with a terrible dilemma when some men herding goats
stumbled upon their position, and they couldn’t tell if these men were
friend or foe. So the question was what to do with them? Should they
kill them or should they let them go and perhaps risk compromising their
mission? They took a vote. They chose mercy over self-preservation.
They set their prisoners free. The vote said it was the humane thing to
do. It was the American thing to do. But it sealed their fate because
within hours, over a hundred Taliban forces arrived on the scene. They
battled the four Navy SEALs throughout the surrounding hills. A rescue
helicopter came, but it was shot down. By the time the sun set on June
28, 2005, it was one of the bloodiest days for American forces in
Afghanistan.
19 brave, honorable men were lost that day. Marcus was the sole
survivor. Alone, stranded, badly wounded, he limped and crawled for
miles along that mountain side. What happened next is a testament to the
words: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”
Marcus and his team showed mercy in letting their prisoners free. And
later he was shown mercy by Afghan villagers who honored an ancient
custom of providing hospitality to any stranger who would ask for it.
They took him in. They cared for him, efused to hand him over to the
Taliban. They got him back safely to our forces.
Marcus’ story teaches us that even on the worst battlefield against
the most brutal enemy, we adhere to our principles. This American love
of justice and mercy is what makes us a force for good in this world.
Marcus is a testament to that.
Please join me in honoring retired U.S. Navy SEAL Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell.
From the time he first heard men marching to a cadence call, Eddie
Wright had one dream in life, and that was to be a United States Marine.
And as a Marine serving in Iraq, his company was ambushed in Fallujah.
He was knocked out when a rocket propelled grenade hit his Humvee. When
he came to, he saw that both his hands were gone and his leg was badly
wounded.
He couldn’t fire his weapon, he could barely move, and he was
bleeding to death. But he had the strength of mind to lead the men under
his command, and that is exactly what he did. He kept them calm, he
showed them how to stop the bleeding in his leg, he told them where to
return fire, he had them call for support, and he got them out of there
alive.
His composure under fire that day earned him the Bronze Star with
Valor device. But if you ask him, “What did you get it for?”, he’ll tell
you, “Just for doing my job.”
After a long recovery, Eddie continued to serve as a martial arts
instructor. He resigned from his beloved Marine Corps a few years ago,
but he still lives by the motto: “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
And if you want to see the American spirit of never retreating, no
matter the odds – of steady confidence and optimism, no matter the
setbacks – look at Eddie’s story. No matter how tough times are,
Americans always pull through. As Eddie put it himself: “We don’t really
foster the attitude of I can’t. When you have an obstacle in front of
you, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and focus on
what you can.”
So, please join me in honoring retired Marine Sergeant James “Eddie” Wright.
Tom Kirk was an Air Force squadron commander and a combat pilot who
had flown over 150 missions in Korea and Vietnam. One day on a routine
mission over Hanoi, his plane was shot down. He spent the next five and a
half years in that living hell known as the Hanoi Hilton.
Like his fellow prisoners, Tom endured the beatings, the torture, the
hunger, the years of isolation. He described it, saying, “There was
nothing to do, nothing to read, nothing to write. You had to just sit
there in absolute boredom, loneliness, frustration, and fear. You had to
live one day at a time, because you had no idea how long you were going
to be there.”
After two years of solitary confinement, pacing back and forth in his
cell — three and a half steps across, three and a half steps deep – Tom
was finally moved to a larger holding cell with 45 other Americans
prisoners, among them was a man named John McCain. In circumstances that
defy description, this band of brothers kept each other alive, and one
by one, they came home.
Tom was released on March 14, 1973. You might think that a man who
had suffered so much for his country would be bitter and broken by it.
But Tom’s heart was only filled with love – love for America – that
special love of country that we call patriotism.
Tom wrote, “Patriotism has become, for many, a ‘corny’ thing. For me,
it is more important now than at any time in my life. How wonderful it
is to be an American come home!”
Friends, please join me in honoring retired Air Force Colonel Tom Kirk.
My fellow Americans, each one of these men here today faced terrible sufferings, overwhelming set-backs, and impossible odds.
And they endured! And their stories are America’s story.
We will always come through. We will never give up, and we shall
endure because we live by that moral strength that we call grace.
Because though we’ve often skirted a precipice, a providential hand has
always guided us to a better future.
And I know that many of us today, we are worried about what we face. Sometimes our challenges, they just seem insurmountable.
But, here, together, at the crossroads of our history, may this day be the change point!
Look around you. You’re not alone. You are Americans!
You have the same steel spine and the moral courage of Washington and
Lincoln and Martin Luther King. It is in you. It will sustain you as it
sustained them.
So with pride in the red, white, and blue; with gratitude to our men
and women in uniform; let’s stand together! Let’s stand with honor!
Let’s restore America!
God bless you! And God bless America!