"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who
helped end a war."
President Ronald Reagan
Remarks at the U.S. Ranger Monument
Pointe du Hoc, France
June 6, 1984
Who can forget those words, that scene at Pointe du Hoc, France, as President Reagan spoke to veterans of the Normandy Invasion assembled to commemorate the
40th Anniversary of D-Day? Before him sat the men, arrayed in orderly rows - so much older now - who as young Army Rangers had spearheaded the
greatest military operation in history with surpassing courage and steely determination.
Just doing their job and fulfilling their duty. Just answering the call to perform great deeds and change the course of history. Doing what American soldiers
have done since the birth of our republic.
On June 14, 2006 the United States Army commemorates its 231st birthday. It is a day that we should mark with a moment of reflection,
a heartfelt "thank you" and perhaps a silent prayer. For what would our country be without the brave men and women who helped shape our nation, who keep us free,
and who today - even as you read this - are putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan, Iraq and in many places far from the headlines?
The world is a dangerous place. The War on Terrorism and the defense of our nation is the "long war"... a clash of people, weapons and ideas that we have
now been fighting longer than we fought World War II. At such a critical juncture in the grand sweep of history, the U.S. Army can add this global battle to its
proud heritage of having fought in countless conflicts. From the American Revolution, through two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and now the ongoing
conflict in shadowy battles amid teeming city streets and lonely mountain passes... the Army's accomplishments fill us with pride.
As a trusted partner, CACI works side-by-side with Army mission planning and intelligence specialists to provide the
real time, tactical intelligence and communications that our fighting forces need to achieve their objectives. The Army's missions are our missions. Our complete understanding of customer needs puts
us in the right position to fully support the warfighter and have a direct impact on soldiers in the field and on national security.
CACI provides and creates equipment critical to support operations, planning and training that ensure Army readiness, and we develop web-based systems to
manage Army resources. From TROJAN satellite communications systems, to the Army Training Models program, to our latest initiatives for the new Strategic
Services Sourcing (S3) contract - we're on the job with technical insight and wide ranging experience. As a critical component to the Army's efforts, CACI's
communications, command, control, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions deliver a far reaching information operations capability
critical to defeating the enemy. And our support of the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) provides cutting edge technology to help our
troops "own the night."
But no matter how great our technological advances are, warfighting remains the duty of the brave men and women in uniform. They are the people that we work
so hard to support. They are the ones, in the end, who do the fighting. They are the ones, ultimately, who risk their lives, so that the rest of us can live in
a free nation. They are our country's newest generation of heroes.
So let us salute the U.S. Army on this birthday, and every day. And let us consider another memory President Reagan evoked on that day, on that distant
battlefield:
"Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your ‘lives fought for life... and left the vivid air signed
with your honor.' "
