Bush says U.S. deaths in Iraq were not in vain

By Caren Bohan

WACO, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush marked Veterans Day on Sunday by attending a memorial service for four U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, where he told their families the troops had not died in vain.

Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Crawford, Texas ranch, visited an American Legion post in nearby Waco to attend the ceremony where two Army soldiers and two Marines were honored with anthems and tributes to their heroism.

At the emotional service where some family members were crying, Bush praised the valor of the soldiers and expressed empathy for the "aching hearts" of those they left behind.

"In their sorrow, these families need to know, and families all across our nation of the fallen, need to know that your loved ones served a cause that is good and just and noble," Bush said. "And as their commander-in-chief, I'm making this promise: their sacrifice will not be vain."

The unpopularity of the Iraq war, now in its fifth year, has helped push Bush's approval ratings to the lowest levels of his presidency. Frustration with the war is a major theme in the 2008 presidential election campaign to pick his successor.

This year has been the deadliest for U.S. troops in Iraq, with more than 850 killed in 2007, and more than 3,850 U.S. troops killed since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

With both civilian deaths and U.S. military casualties down in recent months, Bush has painted an upbeat picture of Iraq, attributing the reduction in violence to a U.S. troop buildup he ordered at the beginning of the year.

However, questions remain over whether the lull in violence is temporary or the start of a more lasting improvement in security. Bush has acknowledged that the Iraqi government had fallen short on efforts to bridge the sectarian divide.