WEBVTT

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(somber music)

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- They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old.

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Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.

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At the going down of the
sun and in the morning,

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we will remember them.

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We gather here today with a
shared attitude of gratitude.

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23 centuries ago, so Plutarch tells us,

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an old Spartan king observed,

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it is not the places that grace men,

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but men grace the places.

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In a world awash with change,
some things stand firm.

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Some things are, as Plato said,
good and true and beautiful.

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- One January, 2018, during
Operation Freedom Sentinel.

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- If you have ever
known one of the fallen,

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you've known greatness,

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but it is hard to be
content with their silence,

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for we miss them.

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The empty chair on a
holiday, empty every day.

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The photograph that goes wherever you do,

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the picture fades but the
person in it does not.

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Their fighting spirit persists.

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Passed down through the ranks,

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their spirit echos in
those who serve today

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in the air, on land and at sea.

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No words will ease your
pain, but I beg you,

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let it have meaning.

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Unite your sorrow to
their awesome purpose.

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People do grace places, but
people also grace people.

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We are blessed by our time
with those now asleep,

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the mighty and the gentle.

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Let us share their
story with others, then,

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like the poet, we all can say,

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"Sleep soldiers, still in honored rest,

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"your truth and valor wearing.

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"The bravest the tenderest,
the loving are the daring."