My son and I spent the day in San Diego on the USS Midway. It was a wonderful trip, even though it rained most of the time.

Large ships always astonish me. All that metal and they can float. All the supplies needed. All the people needed to run the ship. The fact that in its 47 years of service, 225,000 servicemen and women lived on the ship. The conditions were not great and personal space was practically non-existent. Yet the sailors chose to give of themselves, living away from their families for months at a time.

I am grateful to those sailors, and all the soldiers, who have chosen to accept the challenge.

Thank you.