U.S. soldiers praised by US Vice President

U.S. soldiers praised by US Vice PresidentVice President Joe Biden said on Monday that U. S. soldiers fight every day to protect the values and freedoms Americans enjoy against a still-threatening enemy.

Biden said during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, "As the world around us shrinks ... trouble halfway around the globe can and will visit us, the objective of our new enemy is to change our values, change how we live our lives, change what it means to be an American."

Biden called today's warriors "a special breed" because "they understand that example of our power must be matched with power of our example."

He further said that upholding American values is "what brought all these men and women to this hallowed cemetery."

Biden also said, "They lived with integrity. They served nobly. They gave everything. They fought for what they believed in. They believed in something bigger themselves ... they believed all of you, they believed in all of us, and they believed in America."

Biden, before his remarks, placed a floral wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

Chirping birds broke the silence as visitors waited for the vice president to place the wreath in front of the monument. Before he arrived, cemetery visitors, some dressed in military fatigues, visited the lines of white tombstones to honor the fallen of world wars and international police actions.

It was also reported that Biden paused for a minute after placing the wreath, then walked back toward the crowd, turned, placed his and over his heart and listened as a lone bugler played "Taps."

U. S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan also marked Memorial Day with services and ceremonies.

The report further said that President Barack Obama, visiting his Chicago home for the Memorial Day weekend, was to place a wreath at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., instead of Arlington National Cemetery. But a downpour delayed proceedings, and the president finally canceled his speech. Instead, he visited with families in their buses. (With Inputs from Agencies)