President Reagan's Remarks about the United States Marines Slain in El Salvador on June 22, 1985

Oh, let us pray our Father in this time of deep pain, we do not know how to pray as we should but you, oh God, who searches the hearts of men, can interpret our sighs that are too deep for words, we as a people, as a nation . invoke your healing presence your strength your wisdom and bless oh Lord this blessing for our dead brothers may the god of grace and mercy grant you peace and give comfort and hope to those who knew and loved you Tom in ladies and gentlemen we are here today to receive on behalf of our country the remains of four United States Marines who died in the line of duty in a faraway country;

They were victims of a cruel evil and we mourn their loss and that of the other innocent victims of that cruel attack when a nation is a family and ours knows it, death is impersonal, no death is discreet, no death is in itself, Every death is a tear and a tear in the fabric, a tear in the hole, but when a soldier dies we feel a special anguish. The life of the service man is a hard life, a life of sacrifice and risk, and we are never good enough to them when we are as good as we should be because that is not possible, no one can treat those men and women as they deserve. because what they give us is beyond our power to pay and when they are taken from us when they are taken away because they wore our uniform with love and pride when they are killed because they put themselves in danger for our sake, then we feel an anguish that cuts through the heart. heart and I can't forget that Gregory Weber was 22 years old and went to guard the American embassy because, as he told his dead father, they needed some good men there.

Thomas Handwork was twenty-four years old and a five-year veteran of the Corps. It wasn't a job for him, it was a vocation. He had wanted to be a Marine from the first days he could walk and talk. He dreamed of the Body. It was everything he wanted. Bobby Dixon was 27 years old and a southerner raised in tradition. of manly honor he feared nothing and Patrick Witkowski was the youngest of the four only 20 years old he turned 21 yesterday a volunteer from Warsaw Wisconsin they were all volunteers there were four young men who chose to follow and honor an ancestral path and thus they threw the bag on shoulders because their parents said goodbye and went to serve their country they chose to follow the light of service, selflessness and courage they did it for love and honor Semper Fi to those who loved them and will take them to their rest We know that no words can comfort, but we thank you for your sons and daughters and your brothers.

We thank you for these excellent young people. No words can comfort, but we know the promise of the Bible. Blessed are those that weep, for they shall receive consolation. Blessed are the peacemakers because they will be called children of God as we mourn these children of God we remember another promise Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice because they will be satisfied, they say that the men who murdered these children of America escaped. They disappeared in the streets of the city, but I promise you today that you will not evade justice on earth, any more than you can escape the judgment of God.

We and the Salvadoran leaders will move any mountain and ford any river to find the Jackals and bring them and their terrified colleagues to justice and now today we mourn four young men who were taken from us too soon and we welcome them deeply as they were in the last night of their lives together and following a light that radiates skyward towards home and if or when we reach heaven, we will actually find it guarded by the United States Marines.