President Barack Obama invoked Chattanooga and our resilience to terrorism in his speech Tuesday after meeting with French President Franois Hollande.
The context was in talking about the American spirit and the role civilians here and abroad play in shoring up our security officials to defeat ISIS and other terrorist groups. We help by not allowing fear to give terrorists a victory.
“Groups like ISIL cannot defeat us on the battlefield. So they try to terrorize us at home against soft targets, against civilians, against innocent people. Even as we’re vigilant, we cannot and will not succumb to fear. Nor can we allow fear to divide us. That’s how terrorists win. The good news is the Americans are resilient. We mourned the lives lost at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon and Chattanooga,” the president said. Then he continued:
“But we did not waiver. Our communities have come together. We’ve gone to ball games, we’ve gone to concerts, we’ve gone shopping, and men and women who want to serve our countries continue to go to military offices. We’re vigilant. We take precautions, but we go about our business. Americans will not be terrorized.”
Chattanooga Strong. We knew it and know it. Now we’ve been honored with a presidential acknowledgment of it.