3/14/2009:
On this date in 1983, President Ronald Reagan spoke before members of the federal law enforcement agencies at a memorial service in Washington, D.C. to remember agents who had fallen in the line of duty over the past year. Among the thirteen remembered on that cold March day were U.S. Marshal Kenneth Muir and Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Cheshire, Jr.; both killed during the tragic standoff at Medina, ND one month earlier.
In remembering the fallen, President Reagan left the audience with these words,
"It's wisely said that nothing worth having comes cheaply or easily. And the price of a free nation is sometimes counted in the dearest currency: human life. These...men, all the best of professionals, were dedicated Americans. They gave their lives in a continuing battle to preserve the domestic peace and to make America safe from those who would prey on the innocent."
Written by Lane Sunwall
Sources
"Remarks at a Memorial Service for 13 Federal Law Enforcement Officers Who Died in the Line of Duty", Ronald Reagan Presidential Library http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/31483a.htm (accessed March 6, 2009).