Bush pays tribute to fallen at Arlington

The Democratic presidential hopefuls also honored veterans.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — President Bush paid tribute Monday to America’s fighting men and women who died in battle, saying national leaders must have “the courage and character to follow their lead” in preserving peace and freedom.

“On this Memorial Day, I stand before you as the commander in chief and try to tell you how proud I am,” Bush told an audience of military figures, veterans and their families at Arlington National Cemetery. Of the men and women buried in the hallowed cemetery, he said, “They’re an awesome bunch of people and the United States is blessed to have such citizens.”

That provoked a standing ovation from the crowd in a marble amphitheater where Bush spoke. “Whoo-hoo!” shouted one woman, who couldn’t contain her enthusiasm.

Bush and his wife, Laura, traveled from the White House across the Potomac River to the rolling hillsides of Arlington. Along the way, one man stood with a sign that said: “Bring Our Troops Home.” But, otherwise, the presidential motorcade on a sparkling clear spring day was warmly greeted at the cemetery entrance by scores of people, including two men in hats, shirts and shorts made out of American flag material. Others visited gravesites where each white tombstone was marked with a tiny American flag.

“From faraway lands, they were returned to cemeteries like this one where broken hearts received their broken bodies,” Bush said. “They found peace beneath the white headstones in the land they fought to defend..”

“Bush was at the White House through 3 p.m., the time he asked Americans to pause for a moment to remember the fallen. Then, he went to a Secret Service training facility in Beltsville, Md., just outside Washington, to ride his mountain bike for about 90 minutes.

Hillary Rodham Clinton ended a three-day campaign swing across Puerto Rico the same way many Americans mark Memorial Day — with family, friends and a salute to the sacrifices of military men and women.

Clinton, who is trying despite the odds against her to catch up to Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, visited with Laura Santiago Suarez and Carlos Rivera Figueroa. Residents of a public housing project in Bayamon, the couple talked about their 21-year-old son, Jonathan, a soldier awaiting redeployment for another tour in Iraq.

As Clinton wrapped up her Puerto Rican swing, Obama marked Memorial Day in New Mexico, a battleground state in the general election.

Obama told a group of veterans that he cannot know what it’s like to walk into battle or lose a child in combat, since he has experienced neither, but he said he is committed to strengthening the military and improving veterans’ services.