Bush wants to showcase U.S. veterans

Associated Press

ROCKVILLE, Md. – President Bush enlisted the soldiers of decades past to help him see a new generation through the new challenge of defeating terrorism, asking schools to bring war veterans into their classrooms.

Bush said the veterans could give America’s youth “examples of duty and courage at a time when both are sorely needed.”

Before hundreds of shrieking teen-agers at suburban Maryland’s Thomas S. Wootton High School, the president said Tuesday that he wants public, private and home schools across the country to use the week of Nov. 11, Veterans Day, to showcase the real-life stories of American war heroes.

“At this moment, we especially need the example of their character, and we need a new generation to set examples of its own, examples in service and sacrifice and courage,” he said.

Behind him on bleachers, adolescent girls in trendy, hooded sweater coats mixed with grizzled vets in vintage sport coats.

Bush paid tribute to all who had fought – from the two World Wars in Europe to Vietnam and the Persian Gulf – and quoted from an inscription at the Korean War Memorial in Washington: “Freedom is not free.”

“You’ve been learning this by studying your history. At least some of you have been studying your history,” Bush said with a wink. “Now you’re learning the price of freedom by following the news.”

Apparently forgetting his own history classes on the American Revolution and Civil War, Bush told the Wootton Patriots: “You’re the first generation of students who’s ever witnessed a war fought in America.”

The students greeted Bush and former Sen. Bob Dole with a roar when they stepped inside the school auditorium. Bush, without pause, reached with his left arm to shake Dole’s left hand – silent acknowledgment of the World War II injury that shattered Dole’s right side.