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Bush: 'This nation does not forget'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Recounting the personal sacrifices of military personnel killed in combat, President Bush declared at a Memorial Day ceremony, "This nation does not forget." "On this day, especially, our nation is grateful to the brave and fallen defenders of freedom," Bush said Monday from the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. "Time after time, they have proven that the moral force of democracy is mightier than the will and cunning of any tyrant." (Full story) Bush read excerpts of letters from troops who died in Iraq and are buried in section 60 of Arlington. (Full story) More than 160 U.S. troops and 34 British troops have died since the invasion of Iraq, including two soldiers killed Monday. (Full story) This year's ceremony began with President Bush laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. (Tomb needs repairs) Before the Memorial Day speech and wreath-laying ceremony, Bush was host at a private reception for nearly 175 representatives from various veterans groups in the East Room of the White House, an administration official said. Guests included veterans and their family members. At Arlington National Cemetery, a memorial was held for Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 23, who died in an Iraqi ambush March 23. Piestewa was the first Native American woman in the U.S. armed forces to die in combat. Red rose petals were placed in Piestewa's honor in the reflecting pool of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. (Heroes of War: Pfc. Lori Piestewa) And at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, six new names added to the wall were officially unveiled Monday. The Memorial Day holiday began in the 1860s, when communities would decorate the graves of soldiers killed during the Civil War. Returning comradesThe day's events also included troops who survived combat in Iraq. In Dacula, Georgia, Army Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young Jr. -- a helicopter pilot captured in the war -- was grand marshal of a Memorial Day parade. Residents of the small town northeast of Atlanta greeted Young with enthusiastic applause as he rode down the street in a convertible.
Along the shores of North Carolina, families welcomed Marines arriving home aboard the Navy ships that carried them to the Persian Gulf months ago. (Full story) "It's wonderful to see him," said Elizabeth Sisto, the wife of Marine Cpl. Jeff Sisto. "It's been a long road, and we're just really looking forward to having a normal marriage -- trying to spend some time together, get to know each other again." Sisto was one of about 2,300 Marines who returned to Camp Lejeune aboard landing craft from the USS Nassau amphibious ready group. Some, like Sgt. David Dial, were seeing newborn children for the first time. "I'm feeling good," he said. "Glad to be home to see him."
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