Viddler

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please, be seated. Thank you so much. Commander Gardner, thank you for your introduction and for your lifetime of service. I was proud to welcome Glen and your executive director, Bob Wallace, to the Oval Office just before the 4th of July, and I look forwarding to working with your next commander, Tommy Tradewell.

I want to also acknowledge Jean Gardner and Sharon Tradewell, as well as Dixie Hild and Jan Title and all the spouses and family of the Ladies Auxiliary. America honors your service as well.

Also Governor Jan Brewer is here, of Arizona; and Mayor Phil Gordon, our host here in Phoenix. I want to acknowledge President -- Dr. Joe Shirley, Jr., President of the Navajo Nation. And this wasn't on my original card, but this is just an extraordinary story and you may have already heard from her, but I just want to publicly acknowledge and thank Ms. Helen Denton the secretary to Dwight Eisenhower -- (applause) -- who typed up the orders for the Normandy invasion and is here today, and what an extraordinary story that is. (Applause.)

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, I am honored and humbled to stand before you as Commander-in-Chief of the finest military the world has ever known. (Applause.) And we're joined by some of those who make it the finest force in world -- from Luke Air Force Base, members of the 56th Fighter Wing. (Applause.)

Whether you wear the uniform today, or wore it decades ago, you remind us of a fundamental truth. It's not the powerful weapons that make our military the strongest in the world. It's not the sophisticated systems that make us the most advanced. The true strength of our military lies in the spirit and skill of our men and women in uniform. And you know this. (Applause.)

You know this because it's the story of your lives. When fascism seemed unstoppable and our harbor was bombed, you battled across rocky Pacific islands and stormed the beaches of Europe, marchin