Greeting at a Garden Party for the White House Army Guard.

I am very glad to welcome all of you here today, and so is Mrs. Roosevelt. We have seen some of you outside the fence, and we are glad to have you inside the fence as well.

You are a symbol, this small group, of a great many thousands of officers and men of the Army who are guarding the Nation's Capital. I think that perhaps some of you wish that you might have duty that is at least a little more exciting. I wish that I had duty a little nearer the front. And yet somebody has to do this kind of work. You and I among others.

And so I want to congratulate you on a very necessary part of the war, on doing a task with true efficiency. We may be here for a long time, but in the long run we are going to look back on this period of service as something that I think and I hope we can all feel proud of.

And so it has been good to see you. I wish I could come down and have a sandwich and a soft drink with you, but I have got to get back to work.