Obama observes Memorial Day at Arlington cemetery

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has praised the men and women of America's fighting forces as the "best of America."

The president spoke after participating in a solemn Memorial Day tradition, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. It is the burial ground for American veterans dating back to the Revolutionary War.

In brief remarks after the wreath-laying, Obama wondered why the country's fallen warriors were willing to bear the heaviest burden.

He said a willingness to risk their lives for people they've never met "is why they are the best of America."

Obama also sought to avoid a racial controversy by sending flowers to a monument for Confederate soldiers and to a memorial honoring blacks who fought for the Union during the Civil War.