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Those of us who did not lose a brother or a son or daughter or friend or father are shaken nonetheless. Tragedy is nothing new to mankind, but somehow it's always a surprise, never loses its power to astonish. They were the ones of whom Christ spoke when He said, ``Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.'' Their work was a perfect expression of the best of the Judeo-Christian tradition. They had a rendezvous with destiny and a potential they never failed to meet. Their commitment was as strong as their purpose was pure. They were there to protect life and preserve a peace, to act as a force for stability and hope and trust. But the men and women we mourn today were peacemakers. Some people think of members of the military as only warriors, fierce in their martial expertise. Who else but an idealist would choose to become a member of the Armed Forces and put himself or herself in harm's way for the rest of us? Who but the idealist would go to hard duty in one of the most troubled places of the world and go not as a matter of conquest, but as a force that existed to keep the peace?

For lost were not only the 248 but all of the talent, the wisdom, and the idealism that they had accumulated lost too were their experience and their enormous idealism. They were happy they were returning to kith and kin.Īnd then the terrible crash, the flags lowered to halfstaff, and the muffled sobs, and we wonder: How this could be? How could it have happened, and why? We wonder at the stark tragedy of it all, the enormity of the lost.

#Airborne kingdom wonder locations map full#

They were full of happiness and laughter as they pushed off from Cairo, and those who saw them at their last stop spoke of how they were singing Christmas carols.

Most of the young men and women we mourn were returning to spend the holidays with their families. At this point the dimensions of the tragedy are known to almost every person in the country. The passing of American soldiers killed as they returned from difficult duty abroad is marked by our presence here. We are here in the name of the American people.