Our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work. To strengthen our middle class, we must give all our children the education they deserve, and all our workers the skills that they need to compete in a global economy. We must jumpstart industries that create jobs, and end our dependence on foreign oil. We must unleash the innovation that allows new products to roll off our assembly lines, and nurture the ideas that spring from our entrepreneurs. This will be difficult. But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as President。

　　我们最紧迫的任务是重振我们的经济，让数百万失去工作的美国人重新上岗。为了壮大我们的中产阶级，我们必须让孩子们享受他们应该得到的教育，让我们的工人拥有足以在全球经济中竞争的技能。我们必须推动可创造就业机会的产业的发展，摆脱对外国石油的依赖。我们必须改革创新，生产制造新产品，并鼓励企业家提出新理念。这将很困难，不过，在未来的日子里，这将是我们民族的中心任务，同时也我身为美国总统的主要责任。

　　Part of that responsibility is making sure that we honor our commitments to those who have served our country with such valor. As long as I am President, we will maintain the finest fighting force that the world has ever known, and do whatever it takes to serve our veterans as well as they have served us. This is a sacred trust. That is why we have already made one of the largest increases in funding for veterans in decades. We are treating the signature wounds of today's wars post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, while providing the health care and benefits that all of our veterans have earned. And we are funding a post-9/11 GI Bill that helps our veterans and their families pursue the dream of a college education. Just as the GI Bill helped those who fought World War II- including my grandfather- become the backbone of our middle class, so today's servicemen and women must have the chance to apply their gifts to expand the American economy. Because part of ending a war responsibly is standing by those who have fought it。

　　这种责任的一部分就是，确保兑现我们对怀着巨大勇气为我们国家服务的人的承诺。只要我还是总统，我们就会维持世界所知的最精良的战队，尽我们所能为退伍军人服务，就像他们为我们所做的一样，这是一种神圣的信任。正因为如此，我们此前大幅度提升了对退伍军人的资助，这是数十年来最大的增幅。我们治疗他们的战后精神损伤，同时为退伍军人提供医疗保健和给予他们应得的利益。而且我们正在提供资金实施《后9-11士兵福利法案》，帮助我们的老兵和他们的家人实现追求大学教育的梦想。就像《士兵福利法案》帮助那些二战老兵、包括我祖父，成为了我们中产阶级的支柱一样，今天的士兵必须有机会施展他们的才能，以增强美国的经济。因为，负责任地结束一场战争部分有赖于那些曾经为之战斗的人们。

　　Two weeks ago, America's final combat brigade in Iraq -the Army's Fourth Stryker Brigade -journeyed home in the pre-dawn darkness. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles made the trip from Baghdad, the last of them passing into Kuwait in the early morning hours. Over seven years before, American troops and coalition partners had fought their way across similar highways, but this time no shots were fired. It was just a convoy of brave Americans, making their way home。

　　两周前，美国驻伊拉克的最后一个战斗旅、陆军第四斯瑞克装甲旅已在黎明前的黑暗中踏上归途。数千名士兵以及数百辆车辆离开巴格达，并在清早时分进入科威特境内。大约7年前，美国军队与盟友沿着相似的道路战斗挺进，但是，这一次我们并未开枪射击。这一次仅仅是一队勇敢的美国人，正在返回家乡。

　　Of course, the soldiers left much behind. Some were teenagers when the war began. Many have served multiple tours of duty, far from their families who bore a heroic burden of their own, enduring the absence of a husband's embrace or a mother's kiss. Most painfully, since the war began fifty-five members of the Fourth Stryker Brigade made the ultimate sacrifice -part of over 4,400 Americans who have given their lives in Iraq. As one staff sergeant said, "I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot."

　　当然，这些士兵身后留下了许多东西。战争爆发时，他们之中的一些人仅仅只有十几岁。许多士兵都曾多次服役，远离家乡。他们身处千里之外的家人也肩负着崇高的使命，忍受无法拥抱丈夫或亲吻母亲的日子。最令人痛心的是，自战争爆发以来，第四斯瑞克装甲旅已有55名士兵献出了自己的生命，他们是为伊拉克牺牲的4400多名美国人中的一份子。就像一名上士所说的那样：“我知道对于那些战斗过并已牺牲的战友来说，今天本来应该非常重要。”

　　Those Americans gave their lives for the values that have lived in the hearts of our people for over two centuries. Along with nearly 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq, they fought in a faraway place for people they never knew. They stared into the darkest of human creations -war -and helped the Iraqi people seek the light of peace。

　　这些美国人为了已在国人心中存在了200多年的价值理想献出了宝贵的生命。同近150万在伊拉克服役的美国人一道，他们在遥远的国度，为素未谋面的陌生人奋战。他们直视人类创造的最黑暗的事物——战争，帮助伊拉克人民寻找和平之光。

　　In an age without surrender ceremonies, we must earn victory through the success of our partners and the strength of our own nation. Every American who serves joins an unbroken line of heroes that stretches from Lexington to Gettysburg; from Iwo Jima to Inchon; from Khe Sanh to Kandahar - Americans who have fought to see that the lives of our children are better than our own. Our troops are the steel in our ship of state. And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead。

　　在没有投降仪式的时代里，我们的胜利须由盟友的成功以及自身国家的强大来体现。为国家效力的美国人都是英雄，从莱克星顿到葛底斯堡，从硫磺岛到仁川，从溪山到坎大哈，不断奋战的美国人相信，孩子们的生命重于自己的生命。军队是我们这个国家的钢铁护卫。虽然我们的国家或许正身处险滩之中，但他们使我们确信航线是正确的，突破黎明前的黑暗后，前方必定是更美好的日子。

　　Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America, and all who serve her。

　　谢谢。愿上帝保佑你。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国，保佑她的子民。