Thanksgiving Day Message to Members of the Armed Forces.

TODAY all Americans thank the blessings of the Lord for the bounty of their land. In homes at peace, in houses of worship that are untouched by rancor or anger, families are gathered in gratitude for all that God has given them and for the blessings that He has rained upon our Nation.

Many of you will not be with your families today. Nearly all of you will be far from your homes and your friends and the land that you now defend. But all of us here at home remember you with gratitude. We owe much to those who over centuries have stood the long, hazardous, and often lonely vigil of freedom around the world. Our twin blessings of peace and abundance have always rested on those who were willing to risk, whatever the danger, and to sacrifice, whatever the cost, for the freedom of America.

Those same blessings depend upon you today. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by a small group of valiant pioneers. They were beset by the harshness of nature and the hazards of enemies. Behind them lay a year of heavy toil. Ahead lay the uncertainties of the New England winter. Yet, they thanked in sincere joy the God who had permitted them to survive the year and reap the harvest, and brought them to a place where a man could hope to be free.

Today we are prosperous and mighty beyond the farthest imagining of those men and women. Yet, we mark the same glad and humbling ritual. It reminds us that freedom is always in the midst of peril, that democracy is a goal and not an achievement. Peace comes only to those who work for it and are ready to defend it, and the rewards of the world are at the mercy of that just Providence who has thus far seen fit to bless this land.

For that we give thanks and pray that we may continue to deserve His blessings.