Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, at a Feb. 1 ribbon-cutting ceremony for an information center for families of severely wounded service personnel, said the 7-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day service will help ensure the personnel's rehabilitation and transition process, while "making certain that no one is left behind, no one is short of needed resources, no one is left without a place to which they can turn for assistance."

The center, located in Arlington, Vir,, is intended "to make certain that our heroes are properly assisted — not only in their immediate recovery, but in making the sometimes difficult transition back into the community and a productive life," Wolfowitz said.

The deputy defense secretary added: "When President Bush spoke to the Marines at Camp Pendleton back in December, he said, and I quote, 'One of America's greatest blessings is the men and women who wear our nation's uniform...America will show the same sense of duty. We will provide the best possible medical care to any American service member wounded in action.'

"The President’s promise is a reminder of the famous words that greet visitors to the Veterans Affairs building near the White House. The plaque there reads simply: 'to care for him who shall have borne the battle.' Those are words from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, and those words summarize our responsibility and our intentions here today.

"It is something that we owe to the men and women who have already given so much of themselves for us, for our country, and for the freedom of millions," Wolfowitz said. "This new center will help to fulfill that pledge by helping to bridge the gap between intentions, good intentions and results.                —Donald H. Harrison