GEN Peter Pace Retires

GEN Peter Pace retired yesterday after 40 years of distinguished service to his country in what was an emotional and poignant farewell ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia.  Distinguished guests, including President and Mrs. Bush, the Vice President and his wife, Secretaries of State Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld, were all in attendance.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke passionately about the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace, his colleague and friend. GEN Pace in turned praised military families and discussed the necessity of freedom of speech within democracy:

You cannot be free unless you have a free press. 

Our democracy is strengthened by divergent views and dialogue about those views when that dialogue is conducted in a civil manner, in a gentlemanly way, in a way that allows people to argue on the merits of what they believe and to understand that what they believe is part of the answer and if they have the willingness to cooperate to find the right answer for our country.

What worries me is that in some instances right now, we have individuals who are more interested in making somebody else look bad than they are in finding the right solution. They are more interested in letting their personal venom come forward instead of talking about how do we get from where we are to where we need to be….. (applause)

If we as a country can accept the fact that yes, fellow citizens have the right to object.. I can hear voices right now of folks out in the street who are exercising their right of free speech in this democracy to say what they want to say.  And I take pride I knowing that the men and women on the parade deck in front of us are going to ensure that they continue to have that opportunity. But I want them to understand….(applause)

I just want everyone to understand that this dialogue is not about “can we vote our way out of a war”. We have an enemy who has declared war on us. We are in a war. They want to stop us from living the way we want to live our lives. So the dialogue is not about are we in a war, but how and where and when to best fight that war to preserve our freedom and to preserve our way of life……. we will prevail, make no doubt about that.

Every soldier who serves his country well is emotional about the last time he wears his uniform. Thank you for your honorable service, GEN Pace.

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Comments

[Jennifer Weber]

I enjoyed Gen. Pace's speech so much. What a great man. I wish him the best. Thanks for posting the video, Amy.

[Flag Gazer]

Farewell, General Pace.
He will be missed. What a great American.

[Amy Proctor]

He really is a great American, and a very misunderstood one.