Ronald Reagan was one of the most eloquent presidents this country has ever had. Deemed “The Great Communicator,” Reagan not only had a way with words, but an uncanny knack for truly connecting with the American people. Through his speeches and addresses, he delivered raw emotion that touched the lives of everyone who listened.
In on particularly moving address, Reagan tells the story of an injured Marine in Grenada. Relive the full speech in the video below:
“And when our country is threatened, we stand shoulder to shoulder in support of our men and women in the Armed Forces,” Reagan began. He then recounts the story told to him by then General Paul Kelly, commander of the Marine Corps.
“He spoke of a `young Marine with more tubes going in and out of his body than I have ever seen in one body,”” Reagan says using Kelly’s own words.
“‘He couldn’t see very well. He reached up and grabbed my four stars, just to make sure I was who I said I was. He held my hand with a firm grip. He was making signals, and we realized he wanted to tell me something. We put a pad of paper in his hand — and he wrote `Semper Fi.’ ”
“Well, if you’ve been a Marine or if, like myself, you’re an admirer of the Marines, you know those words are a battlecry, a greeting, and a legend in the Marine Corps. They’re marine shorthand for the motto of the Corps — ‘Semper Fidelis’ — ‘always faithful,”’ Reagan says.
“General Kelley has a reputation for being a very sophisticated general and a very tough Marine. But he cried when he saw those words, and who can blame him?
“That Marine and all those others like him, living and dead, have been faithful to their ideals. They’ve given willingly of themselves so that a nearly defenseless people in a region of great strategic importance to the free world will have a chance someday to live lives free of murder and mayhem and terrorism. I think that young Marine and all of his comrades have given every one of us something to live up to.
“They were not afraid to stand up for their country or, no matter how difficult and slow the journey might be, to give to others that last, best hope of a better future. We cannot and will not dishonor them now and the sacrifices they’ve made by failing to remain as faithful to the cause of freedom and the pursuit of peace as they have been.
I will not ask you to pray for the dead, because they’re safe in God’s loving arms and beyond need of our prayers. I would like to ask you all — wherever you may be in this blessed land — to pray for these wounded young men and to pray for the bereaved families of those who gave their lives for our freedom.
God bless you, and God bless America,” Reagan concluded.
