In a society in which the title "Hero" is bestowed increasingly on anyone who simply goes to work and does their job . . . it's a privilege to be in the company of true heroes, and families of those heroes . . . men who did a job for America and her Corps of Marines far beyond any position description that could be crafted to describe a challenge almost beyond human endurance!

You, and those whose spirits are with us here tonight, withstood everything the NVA could throw at you with a cocky swagger and determination that inspired your fellow Americans and, like Henry V's proclamation in his "Band of Brothers" speech at Agincourt, you made more than a few of " . . we gentlemen asleep in our beds . . ", not in England, but in the United States, ashamed that we were not there to shed our blood with you " . . few, you precious few, you band of brothers."

I have no doubt that when the final history of the greatest "do or die" battles in which American arms have participated is written, that Khe Sanh and the Hill battles surrounding it, will be right alongside The Alamo, Little Round Top, Belleau Wood, Wake Island, The Battle of the Bulge and Iwo Jima.  While it was said originally of Marines of Iwo, the fact is that "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue" in the hills around Khe Sanh as much as on the slopes of Mount Suribachi.

Almost a quarter-century ago, President Ronald Regan made the remark, "Some people live an entire life-time and wonder if they ever made a difference, but Marines don't have that problem."  Neither, I believe, do the victors of the battle for Khe Sanh.

The foregoing said, I didn't come to talk to you tonight about Khe Sanh.  Any one of you here is far more qualified than me to do that, and I'm sure your conversations during your reunions, past and present, have re-lived the memories.  Rather, I want to focus on three or four enduring "truths" I've learned about our Corps over time.

"Truths" that are reinforced in spades during a week like the one just past in which our Corps was in the national lime-light of celebrating it's 231st Anniversary, dedicating and opening our National Museum, getting a new Commandant and having the first Marine since Vietnam named to receive the Medal of Honor.

Truths that I believe characterize every one of you in this room tonight.

The first is that our Corps is far more than just another branch of Service, or even a great fighting outfit.  It is those things of course, but in a far deeper sense, it's a National Treasure, one that is respected, admired, envied and even held in awe by the American people, and by those of foreign nations both friend and foe.

Throughout our history, Marines have inspired our nation in some of its darkest hours and even in its brighter moments.  The American people believe genuinely, and openly, whether they know the slogan or not, that when "the Marines have landed the situation is well in hand!"

Although in the dark days of your trial by fire, even though there were times when the issue seemed in doubt as to the fate of the hills around Khe Sanh, there was quiet, and often unspoken confidence that we would win, if for no other reason, simply because you were Marines.  And when the claims came later that "Khe Sanh was a victory for air power", America knew silently that Khe Sanh was a victory because Marines were there.  Put simply, America believes in Marines, in what you stand for, in the virtues you embody and in the way you do your duty.

Our Corps is a way of life, a band of brothers, men and women who are bonded by the mystical ties of the heart, the mind and the spirit to each other, as Marines, but equally, if not more so, to the Institution we know simply as "the Corps".  And this way of life isn't temporary. "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" is something I don't need to explain to any of you here.  It is undoubtedly the most enduring truth any of us who have ever worn the eagle, globe and anchor will ever know.

Our Corps is Character.  It's strongest virtues are: An uncommon Faith and Devotion to the Marine or it's Navy "Doc" or "Padre" beside us.  An unquestioning dedication to duty and to the mission.  Individual selflessness that elevates the needs of the Corps and the mission over the well-being of the individual.  Unflinching self-discipline and an unyielding determination to be always ready to fight and win anytime our nation asks it of us.

The best description of these qualities of professional character I have ever read was written about Marines not by a Marine, but by an Army officer.  In his book about the Korean War "This Kind of War" Lieutenant Colonel
Ted Fehrenbach wrote, and I quote, "The man who goes where his colors go without asking,  who will fight a phantom foe in jungle and mountain range without counting, and who will suffer and die in the midst of incredible hardship without complaint, is still what he has always been, from Imperial Rome to sceptered Britain to Democratic America.  He is the stuff of which Legions are made.  His pride is in his colors and his regiment.  His training is hard and thorough and coldly realistic to fit him for what he must face.  His obedience is to his orders.  As a Legionary he held the gates of civilization for the Classical World.  Together with but a few others, he has been called United States Marine".

Finally, our Corps returns to those who call ourselves "Marine", far more than we give it in return.  The Corps makes us Marines and gives to our Nation not only some of the finest Military Professionals in the history of the world, but perhaps of far greater importance it returns to society men and women whose character and citizenship, indeed their lives, are better because of what the Corps emblazoned in them.

As I reflect on what I've said to you this evening, I've probably done no better at putting into words what these truths are all about than on the hundred or more times I've stood over my career to attempt to explain to others just what being a Marine is all about.  Perhaps a simpler, and more meaningful approach, might be to reflect on words that will be inscribed in the memory of most of you here tonight and familiar to all of you.  Listen and reflect on their meaning in terms of just who and what you are and what our Corps means to America, as I say them again to you.

• The Marines' Hymn 
   and
• Semper Fidelis, Marines!