State visit of the President of the United States of
America and Mrs George W Bush, 20 November 2003
The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Dr Wesley Carr
welcomed President Bush and Mrs George W Bush to Westminster
Abbey today (20 November 2003) and invited him to lay a wreath on
the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. Afterwards The President and
The First Lady signed The Distinguished Visitor's Book and
received the gift of a book about the Abbey written by Walter
Annenberg, the American Ambassador to London in 1972.
Welcoming Mr Bush, Dr Carr said:
"My colleagues of the Chapter and the College welcome you
to Westminster Abbey this morning.
"We stand at one of the most notable memorials in the Abbey,
that to the Unknown Warrior. This anonymous British soldier was
interred here to represent all those who never returned from the
battlefields of the First World War and who lie deep in Flanders'
mud.
"Your own country did him the honour of awarding him the
Congressional Medal of Honour, which hangs on the pillar to our
right. Over the years he has become a symbol of all who perished
in war. This morning we especially hold before God those from our
two nations who have recently been killed in Iraq.
"On that war, as you know, Mr President, people are divided -
as they should be in a mature democracy. But whatever our views,
all can and do unite in our respect for those who serve in the
armed forces and may pay with their lives. Today each will be
known to someone, but to most of us they, like this soldier
before us, are unknown but not forgotten.
"The Grave of the Unknown Warrior is a perpetual reminder of
our past. But it is also the place where each year our confidence
in peace is affirmed, as it was two weeks ago, on Remembrance
Sunday. In that spirit of remembrance, thanksgiving, repentance
and confidence in the future, I invite you this morning, Mr
President, to lay your wreath on the grave of the Unknown
Warrior."
After The President had placed the wreath there was a short
period of silence. Dr Carr then offered a prayer:
"God of the nations, whose kingdom rules over all, have mercy
on our broken and divided world. Shed abroad your peace in the
hearts of all people and banish from them the spirit that makes
for war; that all races and people may learn to live as members
of one family and in obedience to your laws; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen."