He followed General Washington across the Potomac, shivering in the bitter cold weather. Men around him succumbed to the cold and to disease and died, but still he pressed on. He fought the British soldiers in many battles and finally cheered when the war was over and a new republic was born, a republic based on the principles of liberty and justice for all.
When war broke out again with Great Britain, he again grabbed his weapon and fought to free our nation from British control and interference.
He followed William Eaton and Presley O'Bannon across the burning sands to Derna, in Tripoli, and fought and won the first American victory on foreign soil.
He fought and died at the Alamo, holding off the Mexican army long enough for General Sam Houston to gather the troops and supplies needed to defeat the Mexican forces.
He followed Teddy Roosevelt and charged the enemy and won a victory at the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.
He fought Germany and her allies in World War One and endured all the horrors of the trench warfare before moving on to victory alongside the British and other allies.
He returned to battle German forces again, when the evil of Adolf Hitler was unleashed. He landed in Normandy and charged the enemy fortifications, watching his fellows torn apart by the hail of machine gun fire that butchered the American forces attempting to take the beach, yet still he pressed on to victory.
He fought against the Japanese in bloody battle after bloody battle, in island after island across the Pacific. He was forced to march 60 miles from the Bataan peninsula to prison camps, after being captured by the Japanese, in what today is known as the Bataan Death March. He watched in horror as those who fell from exhaustion and hunger were mercilessly beheaded by Japanese soldiers. Still, the American warrior pressed on and pushed the Japanese back to their homeland in victory after victory.
He fought against the Chinese and North Korean forces, and though there were substantial defeats, he managed to keep those forces out of South Korea, a job he continues today.
He fought in Vietnam, and was betrayed by weak politicians and America-haters who displayed their hatred of our country time and again. He returned home and endured ill treatment from radicals who yelled obscenities at him and spit on him.
In the early 90's, he fought against the forces of Saddam Hussein and drove them out of Kuwait.
He fought again with Saddam's forces, after the horrific attack by terrorists on American soil on September 11, 2001, and this time he destroyed the Iraqi military and removed Saddam from power. He is still in Iraq, protecting the Iraqi republic that arose from the ashes of that war.
Let us all take some time today to honor those who have fallen in the many wars and battles in which the American warrior has fought. If you know someone who currently serves or is a veteran of the Marine Corps or the Army or the Navy or the Air Force or the Coast Guard, take some time today to thank him for his service. Let us not forget the brave men and women who have volunteered to serve our country and proudly do so in many locations here in America and around the world.