Obama to nation: Don’t take troops for granted

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va.

Reflecting on the personal toll of war, President Barack Obama on Monday implored a nation in which few volunteer for the armed forces to “always remember and to be worthy of the sacrifice” of its fallen heroes.

Addressing a Memorial Day service at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama said he worries that U.S. servicemen and women — including thousands he sent to war in more than four years as commander in chief — aren’t being fully appreciated in an era in which “most Americans are not directly touched by war.”

Less than 1 percent of the population of more than 313 million people serves in the military, officials have said.

Obama said he couldn’t explain why few are touched by war, but he allowed that it could be because of the bravery and skill of the all-volunteer force, along with new technologies that make it possible to carry out missions while endangering fewer personnel. Contrast that with generations past, when Obama said millions of Americans contributed during World War II, including his grandparents, and when “just about everybody knew somebody” who served in the Vietnam War.

“As a consequence, not all Americans may always see or fully grasp the depth of sacrifice, the profound costs that are made in our name — right now, as we speak, every day,” Obama said.

He cited fears of loved ones being forgotten that he said were expressed in letters he had received from a Naval reservist recently returned from Afghanistan and from a Charlotte, N.C., woman whose two sons are Marines who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.