The meaning of the sentence isn't clear. It's puzzling. It seems garbled. I wonder if it has been transcribed correctly.
One reason it is puzzling is that we don't usually praise, admire, or give thanks that some country _lost_ a war--although it's possible.
"Tribute" is a complicated word.
1) A tribute can be a statement of deserved praise and admiration. "Lincoln's speech was a tribute to the brave soldiers who died at the battle of Gettysburg." If so, a speaker _gives_ a tribute; a speaker can't _be_ a tribute.
2) "A tribute to" can mean "owing to" or "due to:" "his success is a tribute to his hard work."
3) "Tribute" can also mean "a valuable member of" or "a valuable contribution:" "The scientist Marie Curie was a tribute to Poland."
If the sentence is correctly transcribed, it might be a humorous response to something said before. For example, imagine speaker A introduces speaker B by saying "It is my great pleasure to give you B, a brilliant person, a great soul, and a tribute to his nation," Embarrassed by too much praise, B might make a joke and say something or other "led to my being a tribute today."
If the sentence is a mistranscription, it is possible that the speaker said something like "...that led to my being here to give this tribute today."