092004ZMAY08
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC/CMC//
SUBJ/ARMED FORCES DAY MESSAGE//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, AMERICANS HAVE
OBSERVED ARMED FORCES DAY TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE FOR THE COURAGE
AND SELFLESS SACRIFICE OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM.  THOSE WHO
PROUDLY SERVE IN OUR NATION'S ARMED SERVICES HAVE ACCEPTED A GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY - ONE THAT ENTAILS PERSONAL HARDSHIP, RISK, AND
SACRIFICE.
2.  ON THIS YEAR'S ARMED FORCES DAY, ACTIVE DUTY AND RESERVE MEMBERS
OF ALL SERVICES ARE DEPLOYED FORWARD IN THE DEFENSE OF FREEDOM.
THEIR OUTSTANDING EFFORTS IN COMBATING TERRORISM AND PROVIDING
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD GIVE HOPE TO MILLIONS
OF PEOPLE WHO SUFFER UNDER CRUEL REGIMES AND DICTATORSHIPS AND WHOSE
LIVES HAVE BEEN FOREVER CHANGED BY NATURAL DISASTER. 
3.  IN COMMEMORATION OF ARMED FORCES DAY IN 1952 - WHEN AMERICAN
FORCES WERE ONCE AGAIN DEPLOYED IN DEFENSE OF FREEDOM - AN EDITORIAL
IN A PROMINENT NEWSPAPER NOTED THAT "... IT IS OUR MOST EARNEST HOPE
THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN POSITIONS OF PERIL, THAT THOSE WHO HAVE MADE
EXCEPTIONAL SACRIFICES, ... MAY SOMEHOW KNOW THAT WE HOLD THEM IN
EXCEPTIONAL ESTEEM.  PERHAPS IF WE ARE A LITTLE MORE CONSCIOUS OF
OUR DEBT OF HONORED AFFECTION, THEY MAY BE A LITTLE MORE AWARE OF
HOW MUCH WE THINK OF THEM."
4.  THESE WORDS ARE AS RELEVANT TODAY AS THEY WERE AT THE HEIGHT OF
THE KOREAN WAR.  ON THIS 58TH OBSERVANCE OF ARMED FORCES DAY, I JOIN
ALL AMERICANS IN THANKING THE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR ARMED FORCES FOR
THEIR SUPERB COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICE.  
5.  SEMPER FIDELIS, MARINES!  JAMES T. CONWAY, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE
CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS.//