Remarks at Pearl Harbor Memorial Ceremonies in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Admiral Gayler, distinguished guests:

We who remember Pearl Harbor will always remember. For us it is a moment etched in time, a moment of shock and mixed feelings and, particularly, disbelief, a moment of shame and a moment of sorrow, of anguish and of anger, an end to irresolutions, a summons to action, the start of a total commitment that comes but rarely to men and to nations.

Whoever watched the Pacific churned by winds of war comes to this hallowed place with feelings overcoming words. Our shipmates who rest in honor here, our comrades in arms who sleep beneath the waves and on the islands that surround us need no eulogy beyond the eternal gratitude of the land that they loved.

On this Sunday morning in December, we remember them. In all the history of war there is a recurrent question, why do young men have to die? Why not save, instead of spend, our bravest and our best? Could they not live for their country, work for their country, achieve for their country? Can't we have living heroes, patriots of peace, and raise our monuments to lives well lived rather than memorials to lives snuffed out in the black smoke of battle?

I believe we can and will build a safer and saner world. If I did not believe it, then I and hundreds of thousands like me learned nothing in the Pacific during World War II. If I didn't believe it, I would not have supported America's bipartisan policy of peace through strength for more than a quarter of a century of severe challenges--trials that are far from finished here today.

If I didn't believe it, I would not have journeyed 27,000 miles around the Pacific as President to talk peace and mutually beneficial ties with the leaders of Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The 1,600 million people of these nations and of the United States make up more than half of the whole human family. If a majority of people want peace, why cannot the world have peace? If a majority want to live in friendship, why cannot we all live in friendship?

There may be uncertainties, but surely it is worth a try. Here in Hawaii, with its diversity and its harmony, such a goal seems neither impractical nor impossible. The crossroads of the Pacific can become the crossroads of old and new civilizations, the lives of all lands can be preserved and prosper in the Pacific.

We who remember Pearl Harbor will never drop our guard nor unilaterally dismantle our defenses. But we Americans must and will use our moral leadership and our material strength to bring the Pacific community and the world little by little, year by year, closer and closer to real and reliable peace.

We will hold our course for a peaceful Pacific, remembering that vigilance, the price of liberty, must be paid and repaid by every generation. We will keep faith with our past as we work to build a better world for our children and our grandchildren.

I believe they will see peace come through and thank us as we thank those fallen heroes we honor here today. Their duty is done. Let us do ours.

Thank you and aloha.