President Obama, at an awards ceremony for two posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean War Monday, took the opportunity to thank the U.S. military and their families, saying Sunday’s killing of Osama bin Laden couldn’t have been accomplished without their bravery, leadership and sacrifice.
The President specifically hailed the leadership of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who were on hand for the awards ceremony.
“I think we can all agree this is a good day for America,” Obama said. “Our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done. The world is safer and it is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden.”
“Today we are reminded that as a nation, there’s nothing we can’t do, if we put our shoulders to the wheel, to work together .. to remember the sense of the unity that defines Americans,” he continued.
From the patriotism displayed last night at Ground Zero in New York City, in front of the White House and across the country, Obama said, the nation is reminded that “we are fortunate to have Americans who dedicate their lives to protecting ours.”
“They endure separation from their families, they take extraordinary risks — they get the job done,” he said. “We might not always know their names, may not always know their stories, but they are there every day on the front lines of freedom.”
Obama then awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor in combat, to the families of Private First Class Anthony Kaho’ohano and Private First Class Henry Svehla. Kaho’ohano faced down an enemy with overwhelming numbers, engaging them in hand-to-hand combat after his ammunition had been depleted, dying on the battlefield in Korea in 1951. Svehla threw himself on a grenade to help save members of his unit while serving as a rifleman in Korea in 1952.
