奧巴馬演講《Their Lives Are a Model for Us All 他們是我們學習的榜樣》，這是奧巴馬2008年5月26日在陣亡將士紀念日集會上的演講，地點為美國新墨西哥州，聽眾中大部分為軍人。Memorial Day是美國大多數州都要紀念的節日，時間為5月的最后一個星期一。美國總統同時也是三軍總司令，所以爭取得到軍人的支持尤顯重要，奧巴馬利用陣亡將士紀念日向美國軍人表示敬意，一方面是他真情的流露，另一方面也是選舉的需要。該篇演講短小精悍，感人至深。

Their Lives Are a Model for Us All英語演講稿：

On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes, our sense of patriotism is particularly strong. Because while we gather here under open skies, we know that far beyond the Organ Mountains – in the streets of Baghdad, and the outskirts of Kabul – America's sons and daughters are sacrificing on our behalf. And our thoughts and prayers are with them.
在今天這個陣亡將士紀念日，當我們國家緬懷其前赴后繼犧牲的英雄時，我們的愛國主義情緒尤其強烈。我們在此集會的同時，在同一片天空下，我們知道在離奧根山千里之外的土地上——在巴格達的街頭，喀布爾的城郊——美利堅的兒女正在為我們付出他們自己的生命。我們的思念與祈禱與他們同在。

I speak to you today with deep humility. My grandfather marched in Patton's Army, but I cannot know what it is to walk into battle like so many of you. My grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line, but I cannot know what it is for a family to sacrifice like so many of yours have.
今天我以非常謙卑的態度與你們談話。我的祖父曾經在巴頓將軍的部隊里服役，但我沒有像你們許多人那樣擁有親歷戰場的體驗。我的祖父當時在一個轟炸機流水裝配線上工作，但我也無法感知像你們許多家庭那樣付出犧牲的痛苦。

I am the father of two young girls, and I cannot imagine what it is to lose a child. My heart breaks for the families who've lost a loved one.
作為兩個女孩的父親，我無法想象如果失去一個孩子會是什么樣子。我為那些失去親人的家庭感到悲痛欲絕。

These are things I cannot know. But there are also some things I do know.
這些是我所不知道的事情，但有些是我的確是知道的。

I know that our sadness today is mixed with pride; that those we've lost will be remembered by a grateful nation; and that our presence here today is only possible because your loved ones, America's patriots, were willing to give their lives to defend our nation.
我知道我們今日的悲傷中夾帶著自豪。我們的國家將感激并銘記那些在戰爭中失去生命的將士。我們今天得以在此地集會就是因為你們的親人、美利堅的愛國主義者愿意用生命來捍衛我們的國家。

I know that while we may come from different places, cherish different traditions, and have different political beliefs, we all – every one of us – hold in reverence those who've given this country the full measure of their devotion.
我知道我們也許來自不同地區，擁有不同歷史文化傳統，秉持不同政見，但我們——每一個人——都對那些為了國家奉獻畢生努力的人們表示崇高的敬意。

And I know that children in New Mexico and across this country look to your children, to your brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and friends–to those we honor today–as a shining example of what's best about America.
我知道新墨西哥，連同這個國家的孩子們將把你們的孩子、你們的兄弟姐妹、父母朋友以及所有我們今天尊敬的人們共同視為美利堅最光輝耀眼的一筆。

Their lives are a model for us all.
他們的一生是我們所有人的榜樣。

What led these men and women to wear their country's uniform? What is it that leads anyone to put aside their own pursuit of life's comforts; to subordinate their own sense of survival, for something bigger – something greater?
是什么促使這些男女將士穿上這個國家的軍裝 ？是什么引導每一個人都放下他們自身對生活舒適的追求，壓制他們求生的本能和欲望——為了一些更偉大、更有意義的事業？

Many of those we honor today were so young when they were killed. They had a whole life ahead of them–birthdays and weddings, holidays with children and grandchildren, homes and jobs and happiness of their own. And yet, at one moment or another, they felt the tug, just as generations of Americans did before them. Maybe it was a massacre in a Boston square; or a President's（指林肯） call to save the Union and free the slaves. Maybe it was the day of infamy that awakened a nation to a storm in the Pacific and a madman's（指希特勒） death march across Europe. Or maybe it was the morning they woke up to see our walls of security crumble along with our two largest towers.
我們今天紀念的英雄們有許多在他們很年輕的時候就獻出了寶貴的生命 。他們眼前本來有著一整幅人生的畫卷尚未展開——生日和婚禮，與子孫共享假日天倫之樂，還有屬于他們自己的家庭、事業和幸福。但是他們總能時不時地感受到來自祖國的召喚，就如同他們之前歷代美國人民一樣：也許這是在一場波士頓廣場上的大屠殺；也許這來自總統的呼吁去拯救整個聯邦、解放黑奴。也許那是整個民族的恥辱日促使其投入到太平洋戰爭的腥風血雨之中，投入到戰爭狂人希特勒肆虐的歐洲戰場上?；蛘咭苍S這是9月11日那天他們醒來的時候發現國家的安全保障已經隨著雙子大樓的倒塌而崩潰。

Whatever the moment was, when it came and they felt that tug, perhaps it was simply the thought of a mom or a dad, a husband or a wife, or a child not yet born that made this young American think that it was time to go;that made them think "I must serve so that the people I love can live–in happiness, and safety, and freedom."
不管是哪一時刻，當它來臨的時候，美利堅年輕的兒女就會受到這種感召，也許他們只是簡單地想到一位母親或者父親、一位丈夫或者妻子、或者一個尚未出生的孩子就決定是時候挺身而出，就讓他們有了這樣的想法“為了我愛的人能夠生活在幸福、安全和自由之中，我必須挺身而出投入戰斗。”

This sense of service is what America is all about. It is what leads Americans to enter the military. It is what sustains them in the most difficult hours. And it is the safeguard of our security.
這種為國家服務的意識是美國整個國家所有的內涵。它引導著美利堅兒女加入軍隊服役，它在他們最困難的時候給予他們堅持下去的信念，它是我們國家安全的衛士。

You see, America has the greatest military in the history of the world. We have the best training, the most advanced technology, the most sophisticated planning, and the most powerful weapons. And yet, in the end, though each of these things is absolutely critical, the true strength of our military lies someplace else.
大家都看到了，美國有著世界歷史上最優秀的軍隊。我們有著最好的訓練、最先進的技術、最周密的部署和最強大的武器。盡管這一切都毫無疑問是非常重要的，然而歸根結底我們軍隊真正的力量去不在于此。

It lies in the spirit of America's servicemen and women. No matter whether they faced down fascism or fought for freedom in Korea and Vietnam; liberated Kuwait or stopped ethnic cleansing in the Balkans or serve brilliantly and bravely under our flag today; no matter whether they are black, white, Latino, Asian, or Native American; whether they come from old military families, or are recent immigrants – their stories tell the same truth.
它在于美國軍人的戰斗精神。不管他們在抵擋消滅法西斯還是在韓國與越南為自由而戰，解放科威特還是在巴爾干半島阻止種族清洗，還是今日在我們國旗下光榮而勇敢地前進，不管他們是黑人、白人、拉丁裔、亞洲裔還是美國本地人，不管他們來自先前的軍隊家庭還是新近的移民家庭——他們的故事都詮釋著同一個真理。

It is not simply their bravery, their insistence on doing their part – whatever the cost – to make America more secure and our world more free. It's not simply an unflinching belief in our highest ideals. It's that in the thick of battle, when their very survival is threatened, America's sons and daughters aren't thinking about themselves, they're thinking about one another; they're risking everything to save not their own lives, but the lives of their fellow soldiers and sailors, airmen and Marines. And when we lose them – in a final act of selflessness and service – we know that they died so that their brothers and sisters, so that our nation, might live.
這并不是簡單地由于他們的勇敢和堅持才履行他們的義務——不管代價如何——為了讓美國變得更加安全，讓世界變得更加自由。這并不是簡單的只是我們最崇高理想中一個永不退縮的信念。在槍林彈雨的戰爭中，當他們自身的生命受到威脅時，他們考慮的是其他同伴的安危。他們冒著一切危險不僅希望拯救自己的生命，也更重要的是他們在拯救與他們并肩作戰的戰士們和陸?？杖妼⑹俊．斔麄冸x我們整個世界而去的時候——這是他們最后一次無私的奉獻和服務——我們知道他們用自己的死換來了他們的兄弟姐妹和我們國家的生。

What makes America's servicemen and women heroes is not just their sense of duty, honor, and country; it's the bigness of their hearts and the breadth of their compassion.
美國軍隊男女士兵并不僅僅因為他們的責任感、榮譽感和愛國熱情而成為美國的英雄，更由于他們的寬廣的心胸和無限的激情。

That is what we honor today.
這就是今天我們所該紀念的東西。

Oliver Wendell Holmes once remarked that "To fight out a war, you must believe something and want something with all your might." The Americans we honor today believed. Sergeant Ryan Jopek believed. Ryan was just weeks away from coming home when he volunteered for a mission to Mosul from which he would never return. His friends remember his easy smile; I remember Ryan because of the bracelet his mother gave me that I wear every day. Next to his name, it reads: "All gave some–he gave all."
奧利佛·文德爾·荷默斯曾經這樣說道：“進行一場戰爭，你必須竭盡全力地相信某種東西并迫切希望得到它。”我們所紀念的美利堅兒女就 深信這一點。瑞恩·喬佩克軍事長也深信這一點。瑞恩在不到幾星期就要放假回家的時候自愿接受了一個去摩蘇爾的任務，然而卻有去無回。他的朋友還記得他那純真的笑容，我記得瑞恩是因為我天天都戴著他母親送給我的手鐲。在他的名字旁邊，有這么一句話：“所有人都付出了一些代價——他付出了所有。”

It is a living reminder of our obligation as Americans to serve Ryan as well as he served us; as well as the wounded warriors I've had the honor of meeting at Walter Reed（美國為各類服役人員設立的醫療機構） have served us; as well as the soldiers at Fort Bliss and the troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world are serving us. That means giving the same priority to building a 21st century VA（美國政府為退役老兵建立的福利制度，全稱United States Department of Veterans Affairs） as to building a 21st century military. It means having zero tolerance for veterans sleeping on our streets. It means bringing home our POWs(prisoner of war,戰俘) and MIAs(missing in action，指戰斗中失蹤的人). And it means treating the graves of veterans like the hallowed ground it is and banning protests near funerals.
這是一個鮮活的啟示，讓我們意識到作為一個美國人的義務，我們對待待瑞恩就應如同他對待我們大家那樣，如同那些我有幸在瓦爾特·里德陸軍醫療中心見到的受傷將士對待我們那樣，如同那些在布利斯堡的將士和在伊拉克、阿富汗和世界各地的軍隊對待我們那樣。這意味著我們打造一退伍軍人事務部和一支21世紀的退伍軍人事務部和一支21世紀軍隊具有同樣的重要性。這意味著我們堅決不能容忍退伍軍人在大街上睡覺的凄慘景象，意味著我們需要把那些在戰爭中被俘虜和失蹤的人接回我們的國家 ，意味著我們要把退伍軍人的墓地當作一片神圣的土地，同時禁止在他們的葬禮附近出現各種示威抗議。

But it also means something more. It means understanding that what Ryan and so many Americans fought and died for is not a place on a map or a certain kind of people. What they sacrificed for –what they gave all for–is a larger idea–the idea that a nation can be governed by laws, not men; that we can be equal in the eyes of those laws;that we can be free to say what we want, write what we want, and worship as we please; that we can have the right to pursue our own dreams, but the obligation to help our fellow Americans pursue theirs.
但它也意味著一些更多的東西。它意味著我們需要認識到瑞恩和許多美國人并不是為了地圖上的一個地點或者某一類人的利益而在戰場上拼搏犧牲的。他們的犧牲是為了——他們付出一切是為了——一個更宏偉的理念——一個國家可以依法治國而非以人治國，法律面前人人平等，人們擁有言論、寫作和宗教信仰自由，擁有追求自身夢想的權利，同時也有義務幫助我們的國民來實現他們的夢想。

So on this day, of all days, let's memorialize our fallen heroes by honoring all who wear our country's uniform; and by completing their work to make America more secure and our world more free. But let's also do our part – service-member and civilian alike – to live up to the idea that so many of our fellow citizens have consecrated–the idea of America. That is the essence of patriotism. That is the lesson of this solemn day. And that is the task that lies ahead. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
所以在今天，在所有的日子里，讓我們通過這樣的方式來緬懷為國捐軀的英雄們，讓我們對所有穿軍裝的美利堅兒女致敬；讓我們繼承他們的事業去開創一個更加安全的美國，一個更加自由的世界。同時我們也開始履行自己的職責——無論是服役軍人還是普通國民——用自己的努力去踐行被數以萬計的美國公民所奉為神圣的 ——美國理念。這是愛國主義的精華。這是今天整個神圣的日子給我們上的一課。這也是在我們每個人眼前的任務。愿主保佑你，愿主保佑美利堅合眾國！

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