This afternoon, President Obama recognized our nation’s missing and fallen soldiers by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Inscribed on the tomb are the words: “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

The tomb has been guarded every minute of every day since 1937. Even as Hurricane Sandy ripped through the East Coast, forcing the New York Stock Exchange to shut down for an unprecedented two days, soldiers guarded the tomb. For their commitment to country and many other reasons, no institution in America is held in higher regard than the United States military.

On this Veterans Day, we leave you with an excerpt of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Thayer Award Speech, delivered in 1962 at the U.S. Military Academy.

“Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”