WEBVTT

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- [President Ronald Reagan] Four-hundred and fifty

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United States Navy ships

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stood off a tiny island in the Pacific.

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Few Americans had heard of the place.

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It measured four and two-thirds 
miles by two and a half miles.

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Ash-covered beaches and one extinct

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unknown volcano.

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A command was passed to the ships:

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"land the landing force."

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No one, not even you,

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the Marines and Navy Corpsmen who stepped ashore

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from the amtracs at two minutes after nine,

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knew what you were about to do would forever

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enshrine the island, Iwo Jima,

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and the volcano, Mount Suribachi,

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in American history.

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Today, Iwo Jima is remembered

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with other names like Saratoga,

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the Alamo,

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Gettysburg.

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Remembered not simply 
because Americans were again

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conspicuously gallant in battle,

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but because

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our sons were called upon to endure

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unspeakable hardship for the sake of freedom.

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Your flag-raising at Mount Suribachi

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remains a beacon,

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indeed a birthright, for America's young people

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and for every future American.

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On behalf of all Americans,

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we salute today

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the men of Iwo.