WASHINGTON, DC -- Memorial Day celebrations across the nation commerated the lives of soliders who died fighting for the benefit of the American cause, and this Memorial Day Republican leaders publicly thanked the soldiers who died for their political cause.
    President George W. Bush praised Cpl. Erik Silva, 22, who died because it was politically unfeasible to provide enough troops to cover his unit's flank.
    "Sometimes, it breaks me up how much they sacrificed for us," he said in an emotionally charged speech. "Or at least for me personally."