Vice president thanks servicemembers for vigilance

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. John Severns
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFPN) --  Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a message of thanks and support to the 7,000 Airmen, Sailor, Marines and Soldiers here during a visit Aug. 29.

"I'm here today because the president and I want you to know how much we appreciate everything you do on behalf of the United States," the vice president said. "You're serving in an eventful time for the country and for the course of freedom."

It was not the vice president's first visit to Offutt. He made the base one of his first stops in 1989 after being named secretary of defense. The visit was something of a homecoming for the native of Lincoln, Neb. Many of Offutt's aircraft, including the one that flew over the ceremony, are currently based at Lincoln Air Park while Offutt's runway is undergoing repairs.

The upcoming anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war the U.S. has been waging ever since was much on the vice president's mind.

"In less than two weeks, the calendar will again read Sept. 11, and our minds will go back to that day five years ago when the enemies of our country struck the heartland with acts of stealth and murder," he said. "To stand here at Offutt Air Force Base is to be reminded of how the world changed on that terrible morning."

Mr. Cheney made frequent reference to the central role of Offutt in response to the attacks and the ongoing war on terror.

"The war goes on," he said. "Thanks in part to all of you, it's a war we're going to win."

The bleachers behind the vice president were filled with Airmen in desert camouflage who had recently returned from a deployment in support of the war on terrorism. Their efforts overseas were but a small part of the 55th Wing's valuable real-time intelligence gathering mission, Mr. Cheney said, and were contributing the America's eventual victory.

The 55th Wing operates several models of intelligence and surveillance aircraft, as well as aircraft providing direct support to national leadership, treaty verification and electronic attack. At any given time, the vice president said, more than 10 percent of the wing's members are deployed around the world.

The U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Weather Agency were also singled out for praise by the vice president, who cited them as superb examples of military courage and character.

"America is grateful to the U.S. Strategic Command," the vice president said. "STRATCOM carries a heavy responsibility in protecting the people of the United States. You're the ones we depend on to warn and defend this country against catastrophic attack, to maintain some of the most critical elements of our defense arsenal, and to position combat forces far from home.

"For the sake of our security, and that of our friends, we've undertaken a lot of serious work in this world," Mr. Cheney said. "Yet when we use our military, it's not to conquer, it's to liberate. And after we throw back tyrants, we stand by our friends to make sure that democratic institutions take hold and help build freedom that leads to peace in the long run.

"Five years ago, Iraq and Afghanistan were both in the grip of violent, merciless regimes," he said. "Now, they have democratically elected governments. Dictators are gone and 50 million people are waking to a future of hope and freedom."

The vice president used the upcoming fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 to remind Americans about the persistent threat of terrorism around the world.

"Men who despise freedom will attack it in any part of the world, and so responsible nations have a duty to stay on the offensive, together, to remove this threat," he said. "We fight not only to protect ourselves and to overcome dangers to civilization, but to free the oppressed and give others the chance to decide their own destiny, so that all of us can one day live in peace, on the foundation of human freedom."