that our students remain seated. and she will come up and dismiss everyone. our guests are going upstairs to sign some books. thank you very much and have a great day. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> in a few moments, memorial day ceremonies from the vietnam veterans memorial at arlington national cemetery. a series of commencement speeches including remarks by michele bachmann and john kerry and olympia snowe. >> there is a distinction between success and greatness.

too many folks are chasing success and have lost sight of what it means to go after greatness. you can be successful without being great. you will never be great without being successful. is to have,le m.o. have, have, get, get, get, more, more, more, then you are chasing success. it is probably also significance. we have to be concerned about what it means to be great. he who is greatest among you will be your servant. >> watch commencement speeches by notable figures over the last three decades at the c-span video library. memorial day observances in washington d.c. included a service at the vietnam veterans

memorial with remarks by president obama, leon panetta, the joint chiefs of staff chairman, and the founder and president of the vietnam veterans memorial fund. this is an hour and a half.

>> thank you, thank you, thank you. i appreciate the kind welcome. i welcome the goldstar family and friends. i would like to begin by especially welcoming our goldstar families. [applause] let me also thank the national park service and the vietnam veterans memorial, volunteers and staff. they work day in and day out and they do so much to care for the sacred memorial. thank you all so much. i want to extend my personal thanks to the secretary of the interior ken salazar for his strong support and leadership. please thank your staff at the

national park service for their magnificent help for today's ceremony and their steadfast report -- support for 30 years since this memorial has been built. thank you very much. we want to thank the lieutenant general and his staff with the united states of america vietnam memorial commemorative committee. the department of defense under the strong leadership of secretary of defense leon panetta has shown some really great leadership. they are making this day possible. this will be an amazing day that ever forget. thank you for spending at memorial day with us. this ceremony will be unlike anything that has ever been

hosted here before. this is indeed a special occasion for this memorial. i know that you will be moved and inspired. i want to be the first to invite everyone to come back for another wonderful event, veterans day as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the vietnam veterans memorial. we will also gather across the street to break down for the education center at the wall. this is a place where heroes will be honored and the veterans of vietnam will be remembered and the veterans of iraq and afghanistan will be honored there. thank you very much to those of you who have served. i hope to see all of you in november. until then, please learn more

about this education center. it is now my pleasure to introduce a patriot who we all know as an emmy and golden globe award winning actor. i know him, he was a dear friend. he was in the military during the vietnam war. ae has been a strong se consistentnd supporter of ours. we have come to know you as a special friend of the veterans and friends of all of those wars. please welcome our master of ceremonies, mr. tom selleck. [applause]

>> thank you. there is so much sun out that prompter.see the thank you, jan. thanks for the kind words. thank you for your vision, perseverance and leadership. you were the catalyst that brought americans together more than 30 years ago resulting in

this magnificent memorial and all that this represents. we remember our vietnam veterans, loved ones, and especially our fallen heroes. let me also recognize vietnam veteran and vietnam war -- and goldstar recipient, michael. please join me in thanking the president's: united states marine corps band for their magnificent performance. now please rise as you are able and welcome the host members of the party. >> the secretary of defense, the honorable leon panetta.

the secretary of interior, the honorable ken salazar. the honorable eric shinseki, secretary of veterans affairs. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, martin dempsey. the honorable chuck hagel, former united states senator from nebraska. brian, medal of honor recipient. lieutenant-colonel steven west. the chaplains colonel of the united states air force.

the invocation will be offered by lieutenant colonel west. was in the air force during the vietnam era and served in the 1970's before attending a defendant the school. he continued serving as a chaplain. >> thank-you very much. it before i offer the prayer, i am honored to relay a message from a it godly man w ministersho to our troops in vietnam and their families. he did so for many years and was a constant source and continues to be a constant source of strength to those who served in east asia. the rev. dr. billy graham.

from polygram to our vietnam veterans and their families. i visited with many of you in vietnam and southeast asia. sharing a message of hope and salvation through a hope and faith in jesus christ. during that dramatic time, i talked with you, prayed with you, and prayed for your families at home while you probably answered your nation's call. the years have blown by and we are all older now. at the age of 93, it is not possible for me to travel to be with you in person for the memorial day ceremony. i would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for your service. i will never forget my time visiting with troops, which i counted to be a great honor and

privilege. we all need to look at the thousands of names carved on the vietnam memorial to realize the loss for so many families. for those of you who lost their father, brother, sister, mother, husband, or wife, or friends in vietnam are in the years that have passed since then, are those whose loved ones who are missing in action and not yet returned, it is my pra thatyer plant will be a comfort and encouragement to you as their service and sacrifice is recognized and their memory honored. may god bless each one of you, reverend billy graham. may we pray?

heavenly father, you have blessed this great nation and have raised up sons and daughters willing to serve. we echo th sentimentse in paris of billy graham's as countless have journeyed to pay respect and honor and leave mementos or find inspiration. we pause to reflect. comfort the families of the fallen and missing and sue the paint in the comrades that are wanted and provide hope for the veterans that are homeless. for all that have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom, we are eternally grateful. we will always remember.

amen. >> please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming a truly heroic american. vietnam veteran and medal of honor recipient who will read the presidential proclamation on the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. [applause] >> thank you. the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war by the president of the united states of america.

as we observe the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war, we reflect with solemn reverence upon a generation that served with honor. we pay tribute to the more than 3 million servicemen and women who left their families to serve bravely a world away from everything that they knew and everyone that they loved. from here to saigon and countless villages in between, they pushed through rice paddies, heat and monsoon protectto the ideals we hold dear as americans. these proud americans of held the highest traditions of our armed forces.

as a grateful nation we honor more than 50,000 patriots. their names etched in black granite who sacrificed everything that they had an everything that they would know. for those who suffered as prisoners of war but returned home with their heads held high. we pledge to keep faith with those who were wounded and still carry the scars of war, seen and unseen. with more than 300 service members of monday missing, we pledge to do everything in our power to bring them home. we see military family members and friends that carries a pain that may never fade.

made a fine piece in knowing that their loved ones in door not only in metals and memories, but in the hearts of all of the americans who are grateful for their service and sacrifice. recognitionin of a chapter in our nation's history that must never be forgotten. let us renew it our commitment to those who heard the call in vietnam. beginning on memorial day, 2012, the federal government will partner with local governments, private organizations and communities to participate in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. a 13-year program to honor and give thanks to a generation of

proud americans who saw our country through it the most challenging situations our country has faced. our words will never be worthy of their service. nor any honor truly fitting their sacrifice. it is never too late to pay tribute to the men and women that answer the call of duty with courage and valor. let us renew our commitment for those who have not returned. throughout this commemoration, blooded strive to live up to their example by showing our vietnam veterans, their families, and all who have served, the fullest respect and support of a grateful nation. therefore i, barack obama, president of the united states of america biden virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution and the laws of the

united states proclaimed may 28, 2012, through november 11, at 2025, as commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. i call upon federal, state, and local officials to honor our vietnam veterans, are falling, are wounded, those unaccounted for and our prisoners of war, their families, and all who served with the appropriate programs, at ceremonies, and activities. i have here in my hands on this 25th day of may in the year of our lord 2012 and the independence of the united states of america, the 236, barack obama. thank you. [applause]

>> the national mall continues to be an important place for public events in our nation's history. please join me in welcoming the man who takes care of this and many of our nation's treasures. the secretary of the interior ken salazar. >> thank you very much, tom. to the vietnam veterans and their families and the men and women who are here and my cabinet colleagues, secretary panetta and shinseki, while come to all of you here. it is a privilege and honor to

partner with all of you and the vietnam veterans memorial fund, the hollow place of our fallen heroes. the national park service oversees nearly 400 of the beautiful landscapes and historic land sites across the country including battlefields, military parks, and those who have defended our country. we have a noble responsibility to tell that story as part of america's story. the vietnam memorial is a living memorial. each year, people come here to honor their family and friends and those who they have never met. they leave flowers, metals, and written notes and prayers' at the base of the wall. the remembrances are the reminder that the great price of freedom is not simply edge on the blackstone of this memorial. it is etched on the hearts of those that more and the

sailors, marines, and coastguardsman. these men, in the words of abraham lincoln, had the last devotion to their country. i want to pay tribute to the men whose names are on these walls including somebody in colorado. i also stand in honor of manuel. i remember at the age of 13 i attended his burial at a remote cemetery in colorado. i would never forget that service. it was the first time that i heard taps. the pain that his family endured. that has been the honor of the national park service to be custodian of this special place.

i pledge our full support as we partner together to make the vietnam memorial visitors center at a reality beginning in 2012. may god bless you and may god bless the united states of america. >> thank you, secretary salazar. fellow veterans, military families cannot distinguished guests, it is a profound honor to join you on this hallowed ground on this very special day. our goldstar families dedicate this day to our loved ones who we at remember. today, i join with you to dedicate myself to the memory of my friends whose names are on this wall. robert, panel 27w.

kenneth lancaster, panel 23. there is a poem was written in vietnam on new year's day, 1970. it if you are able, and save them a place in outside of view. save all one one -- save one or glance what you are leaving. do not be ashamed to say that you love them. take what they have left and w havehat argue with their dying and keep it in your own. at a time when people feel safe enough to call a war and

saying, take the time to embrace those heroes that you left behind. that poem was written by michael davis o'donnell. shortly after he wrote that poem he was, killed in action. major o'donnell has his place on this wall. panel 12w, line 40. for many years, representatives have traditionally laid leaves at the vietnam veterans memorial in honor of their fallen brothers, fathers and daughters, who gave the last full measure of devotion to the mayor, and the cause of my. will the representatives of the following organizations come

forward as you are recognized? we will observe a moment of silence. >> the vietnam women's memorial foundation, the gold star mothers in corp., a goldstar

wives of america military order of the purple heart, a vietnam veterans of america, associates of vietnam veterans of america. sons and daughters in touch, national league of m.i.a., a pow families. veterans of foreign wars of the u.s. and disabled american veterans and vets. legion.ican ladies auxiliary to the foreign wars of the united states, operation freedom birds, the veterans advisory board.

rolling thunder, washington d.c., the ptsd class, and the washington veterans administration center.

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♪ [applause] >> the military has a chain of command. that is the top of the chain, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. before we start, we have a very special guest. i am sure you know who he is. we want to ask everybody to stand who has ever served in the united states air force and say hooha. we will ask the next branch of the service, which is the united

states navy. we will ask you to stand and say hooha. is there and a coast guard out there? there has got to be. [applause] sounds like propeller is. it is good. how many of you have served in the united states army? it is unbelievable. i am just curious, did i leave any branch of the service out? united states marine corps. ok. at this time, tom selleck will be introducing to you our next speaker.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome a great leader and warrior. general martin dempsey. >> thanks, tom. thank you for your heartfelt words and your service in the army national guard. as we gather here at the vietnam veterans memorial, our veterans are gathering at cemeteries across the country. soldiers of the third infantry division and the honor guards of every service are on patrol making sure that 260,000 flags stand tall. row after row after row.

at white pines cemetery a single window presses a flight into the ground just like she did last year and the year before that. whether by the thousands or by ourselves, we all feel a common resolve on memorial day to pause, if only for a moment, and remember. decoration day was proclaimed by the commander of the army of the republic. since our republic's founding. 2.5 million of our countrymen and women have made their breas ts barricade between our country and their foes. some of those names are blasted into this wall.

a wall and a war that some have compared to a scars his. us to seeance allows failure where it -- and success were some only saw failure and saw valor were some refuse to let. vietnam, its veterans, and their families are not something apart from us. they are as fundamental to our national story and instrumental to our national security as any veteran of any war. the war'its 50th anniversary gives us an opportunity to remember and reflect on its story. the military family will join with the rest of the american family to learn and see ourselves with a renewed perspective. right now, we can see the names of too many on the wall before us. these are america's son and daughters.

today, their sons, their daughters, and even their grandchildren follow them into the service. my first personal memory of war was in 1968. i watch a vietnam veteran get off the bus his first tour of duty in vietnam. at a time of our history when heroes were hard to find, i thought that i had found one. i never saw anybody so handsome, physical, it determined, proud. captain john gramm was his name. he was a big part of the reason i went to west point. in 1971, he was returned from his second tour of duty, having been killed in action as an adviser to the vietnamese army. i attended the ceremony on a very cold day in the winter are

1971. his son is now on the faculty at west point. officer roy thomas was a gunship pilot with the 24th infantry division. he died in battle when his son was 4 months old. his son is an air force colonel on my staff today. they are just two representatives of thousands more who share a bond with their forbearers. whether they served in vietnam, iraq, afghanistan, whether they return home are are still awaiting their homecoming, there is no difference in their courage or sense of duty. there is no difference when it comes to fear or suffering on the front lines and on the home front. there is no difference in the love and the longing of families. there is no difference in the ones that remain both seen and

unseen. let us resolve that there will be one essential difference that we will never allow our veterans or their families to be left alone. left to fend for themselves. let us resolve not just to say welcome home, but to truly -- [applause] bought us resolve today not just to say welcome home, but to truly welcome our troops home with the respect and care that they and their families have earned. such resolve is evident in those who join us today and those who gathered to support this memorial. we can see it in our president, first lady, and secretary of defense. i note that the secretary shares the commitment to keep faith with our military family

and keep in touch with our military family. he shares my unbounded pride with those who have served in uniform. please welcome leon panetta. [applause] >> thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, america's veterans, i am honored to be here today with all of you as we commemoration of the 50th anniversary of america's participation in the vietnam war. memorial day is an appropriate opportunity for all americans to come together, tribunepay all of those who have fought and died

for our country are across more than 200 years and battlefieldon s near and far. ,'s sons and daughters have sacrificed in the name of liberty to give us all a better life. at this hour, at this hallowed and haunting memorial, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. a war that occupies a central place in the american story. millions of amercians were sen acrosst the pacific to a little no place to fight in service of a country that they loved. not only in this hour, but at

all times, we remember and carry in our hearts, more than 58,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coastguardsman, whose names are inscribed on this dark wall for eternity. for me personally, this is especially moving moment. i have the honor to work on the endowment of this memorial. to see the names of jurors that i served with inscribed on this wall. officers that went with rotc with me. to know my class mate who

served in this war. no memorial better reflects the pain and the sacrifices that were made. many more came home. came home from that war to a country that failed to fully acknowledge their courage and sacrifice and give them the honor that they deserved. that experience, that failure to thank those that were willing to put their lives on the line for this country was burned into the soul of my generation. for too many vietnam veterans, the recognition of their bravery came too late. the vietnam generation, my

generation, is graying now. commemorationsthis effort gives the country an opportunity today and the days ahead to try to right the wrongs of the past. to remember those who served in this war and what they did for us. their service and sacrifice on our behalf. i had the opportunity to join the president in paying tribute to a fallen member of that generation. a specialist to posthumously receive the medal of honor. he died in vietnam saving his brothers in arms. edgardo same brothers from that 101st airborne division that

campaign to reopen the medal of honor process more than 10 years ago. a story of les is in many ways the story of the vietnam war. we forgot and now i finally remembered. i will have the opportunity to travel to vietnam and continue strengthening the ties that our countries are re-establishing since 1995. we have come a long way since the war has ended. it was the veterans of vietnam who led the way for the two nations to try to heal the wounds of war. they are trying to identify and locate the remains of fallen

service members missing in action in vietnam. let me assure you that the sacred mission will continue until all of our troops come home turf and are accounted for. -- home and are accounted for. [applause] it reflects the determination of our country that no men or women are left behind. it honors those with their service, their valor, and their sacrifice. during the last decade of war, like past generations of for years, another generation has answered the call to fight with sacrifice on foreign soil. they have done all that this country has asked them to do and more. as they have returned from overseas, america with her

vietnam's front and center in the effort have embraced this new credits generation of service members, showing that we have learned perhaps the most important lesson to come out of the vietnam war. the debt we owe to those who fought and died for our freedoms. the president and mrs. obama have done so much to encourage americans to do more to recognize and support these great patriots. they have led the fight for the men and women who fought for our nation. as this nation faces tough economic times, we must do everything we can to ease the transition for the thousands of

service members who will come home from war. they fought for us. the least we can do is fight for them. [applause] it is now my honor to introduce one of those soldiers. who fought in vietnam, senator chuck hagel. he led an and for sure squad in vietnam following the tet offensive. like millions in card debt -- a generation, he demonstrated heroism on the battlefield. he also demonstrated that patriotism, bravery, and heroism in public service that is followed. we thank you for honoring us with your presence today. thank you for your commitment to the united states of america.

god bless you. [applause] >> leon, thank you. i am honored to be among you today. i am grateful for an opportunity to say a few words or i introduce our special guest this afternoon. this uniquely american day, memorial day, was born at more than 40 years ago -- 140 years war.after america's civil the war that tore at the heart and fabric of our republic. it produced a simple and elegant memorial that watches over us today. it reflects the images of the future as it records the names of the past. memorials are built for the living in order to instruct our destiny as they honor and remember those who fell in the

service of their country. memorials for construct a loss of the powerful responsibility of our nation'a stewart's to make sacrifices were the. war is not an abstraction, it is brutal. there is always the haunting portents of unintended consequences, and controls and unpredictable. america has always found service to their country. i often think about the quiet heroes that my brother and i served in vietnam in 1968. i am proud that my brother is sitting here in the front row. thank you. [applause] i never knew nor served with a better soldier or or mandan my brother tom.

these quiet heroes who we fought with winter juggles with and sometimes helplessly watched die always considered ourselves ordinary people. they view themselves as ordinary because they were humble, patriotic, and selfless. they never asked for or expected anything in return for their service other than respect and dignity. tragically, what they received upon return from a confused nation was neither. they were blamed for what consumed america for so many years. the vietnam veterans memorial mean so many things to so many people. not only is there deep meeting in connection to the wall, so it is with all americans in all generations. there is a responsibility and honor to assist returning veterans from the wars of the last 20 years, assuring that the

returning veterans have productively integrated back into society with the recognition be fitting a great nation. as we have painfully learned the tragic lessons from vietnam, society must always separate the war from the warrior. we do not celebrate the vietnam war. we commemorate and historically recognized it. the vietnam memorial is groundbreaking on the very sight in 1982. there is no glory in war, only suffering. life is always more about the people than the event. events are state is upon which individuals change the world. we celebrate those individuals that change the country for the better. the veterans and their families. we also recognize those of you who are assisting military families today like the first lady michelle obama and dr. jill

biden. the care tour of the nation always is shown in who chooses to be its leaders. on behalf of this beautifully created in dog land, out here to speak for all of us on this day when we are all americans is the leader of our country, the 41st president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the guest of honor and remain standing. the president of the united states, barack obama.

first lady michelle obama, a vice president biden and dr. biden. the chief playing] ♪ [applause]

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playing] ♪ >> right shoulder, arm.

>> please be seated.

>> good afternoon, everybody. chuck, thank you for your words and your friendship and your life of service. veterans of the vietnam war, families, friends, distinguished guests, i know it is hot. but you are here to honor your loved ones and michele and i could not be more honored to be here with you. it speaks to the complexity of america's time in vietnam that even now, historians cannot agree on precisely when the war began. american advisers have served there and died there as early as the mid-50s.

major combat operations would not begin until the mid-60s. but if any year illustrated the changing nature of our involvement, it was 1962. it was january in saigon. army pilots strap on their helmets and boarded their helicopters. they lifted off, raced over treetops carrying south vietnamese troops. it was a single raid against an enemy stronghold. just a few miles into the jungle, but it was one of america's first major operations in that faraway land. 50 years later, we come to this wall, to this sacred place to

remember. we can step toward its granite wall and reach out and touch and name. -- a name. today is memorial day, when we recall all of those who gave everything in the darkness of war so we can stand here in the glory of spring. today begins the 50th commemoration of our war in vietnam. we honor each of those names etched in stone. 58,282 american patriots, we salute all his serve with some -- all who served with them and

we stand with the families who love them still. for years, you have come here to be with them once more. in the simple things you have left behind your offerings, your mementos, your guests. -- gifts. we get a glimpse of the lives they live. the blankets that covered them as a baby, the baseball that he swung as a boy. a wedding ring, a photograph of the grandchild he never met, the boots he wore, still caked in mud. the metals she earned, still shining. of course, some of the things left here of special meanings only to the veterans.

a can of beer and a packet of m&m's, a container of spam, an old field ration, still good, still awful. it is here that we feel the depth of your sacrifices and here we see a piece of a larger american story. our founders, and in their genius, gave us the task. they set out to make a more perfect union and challenge every generation to keep on network and keep moving ford to overcome a sometimes painful past to keep striving for ideals. one of the most painful chapters of our history was vietnam.

most particularly how we treated our troops who served there. you are often blamed for a war you didn't start when you should have been commended for serving your country with dollar. you are sometimes blamed for the misdeeds of a few. [applause] when the hon. service of the many should have been praised. you came home and were sometimes denigrated when you should have been celebrated. it was a national shame. a disgrace that should have never happened. that is why here, today, we resolve that will not happen

again. [applause] a central part of this 50th anniversary will be to tell your story as it should have been told all along, another chance to set the record straight. that is one more way we keep perfecting our union, setting the record straight, and it starts today. history will honor your service. your name is will join a story of service that stretches back to centuries. let us tell the story of the generation of service members who served with just as much patriotism and honor as any before you. let's never forget that most of those who serve in vietnam did so by choice. so many of you volunteered.

your country was at war and you said "send me." that includes our women in vietnam. everyone of you a volunteer. [applause] those who were drafted, they went and carried their burden. you served, you do your duty. he persevered through some of the most brutal conditions ever faced by americans in war. the suffocating heat, the drenching monsoon rains, an enemy that would come out of nowhere in vanished just as quickly. some of the most intense urban combat in history and a battle

for a single elected of wage and for weeks. let it be said that in hellholes like the briar patch and hanoi hilton, are vietnam prisoners of war did not just in door, you wrote some of the most extraordinary stories of bravery in the annals of military history. [applause] as a nation, we long celebrated the courage of our forces at normandy, iwo jima, heartbreak ridge. let us also speak of your courage in saigon, from hamburger hill to rolling thunder. all too often, it is forgotten that you, our troops in vietnam won every major battle you fought in.

[applause] when you came home, i know many of you put your medals away and cut them in a drawer or a box in the closet. he went on with your lives, started families and pursue careers. a lot of you did not talk too much about your service. as a consequence, this nation has not always fully appreciated this chapter of your lives that came next. let us also tell the story of a generation that came home and how even though some americans turn their back on you, you never turn your back on america. [applause] like generations before you, you took off the uniform, but

he never stopped serving. you became teachers, police officers, nurses, folks we count on every single day. you became entrepreneurs running companies and pioneering industries that change the world. he became leaders and public servants from town halls to capitol hill, lifting up our communities, are states, our nation. you reminded us what it was like to serve and what it meant to serve. those of you who stayed in uniform rows into the ranks and became leaders in every service, learn from your experience in vietnam, and rebuilt our military into the finest force the world has ever known. [applause] let's remember all those vietnam veterans who came back and served again in the wars in

iraq and afghanistan. you did not stop serving. [applause] even as you succeeded in all of these endeavors, you did something more. maybe the most important thing you did, you look after each other. your government didn't live up to its responsibilities and you spoke out, fighting for the care and benefits you would earn and over time, transforming the va. of course, one of these vietnam veterans is now our outstanding secretary of veterans affairs. [applause] rick shinseki. you looked after while another, -- one another, you cared for one another, people were not

always talking about ptsd at the time. you were there for each other and just as importantly, you didn't just take care of your own, you cared for those that followed. you made your mission to make sure today's troops get the respect and support that all too often you did not receive. [applause] because of view, because are vietnam veterans lead charge, the post-9/11 gi bill is helping thousands of veterans go to college and pursue their dreams. [applause] because you did not let us forget, our airports are returning troops who get off the airplane and you are there to shake their hands. [applause] because of view, across america, communities have welcomed home our forces from iraq and what our troops return

from afghanistan, america will give this entire 9/11 generation the return they deserve in part because of you. this is the story of our vietnam service members, a story that needs to be told. this is what this 50th anniversary is all about. another opportunity to say to are vietnam veterans what we should have been saying from the beginning. you do your job. you served with honor. he made us proud. you came home and helped build the america we love and cherish.

here today, it must be said that you earn your place among the greatest generations. this time, i would ask all are vietnam veterans, those of you who can stand, those of you already standing, raise your hands, as we say those simple words which always greet our troops when they come home -- welcome home. welcome home. welcome home. thank you. [applause] we appreciate you. welcome home. [applause] today, we are calling on all americans in every segment of our society to join this effort.

everybody can do something. five decades removed from a time of division among americans, this day can remind us of what we share as americans. that includes honoring vietnam veterans by never forgetting the lessons of that war. let us resolve that one america sends our sons and daughters into harm's way, we will always give them a clear mission and always give them a sound strategy. we will give them the equipment they need to get the job done. we will have their backs. [applause] we will resolve that leaders will be candid about the risks and about progress and have a plan to bring our troops home with honor. let us resolve to never forget the cost of war, including the terrible loss of innocent

civilians. not just in vietnam, but in all wars. we know your sacrifice and service is the very definition of glory. but war itself is not glorious. we hate war. when we fight, we do so to protect ourselves because it is necessary. let's resolve that in our democracy, we can debate and disagree even in a time of war. but let us never use patriotism as a political sword. patriots can support a war or oppose award. -- a war. let us always stand united in support of our troops who week placed in harm's way. that is our solemn obligation. [applause] let's resolve to take care of our veterans as well as they

have taken care of us. not just talk, but action. not just in the first five years after a war, but the first five decades. for vietnam veterans, this means disability benefits for diseases connected to agent orange. it means job opportunities and health-care to help you stand tall again. it means ending the tragedy of veterans homelessness, that every veteran should have a home in america. he should not have to fight for a roof over your head when he fought on behalf of the country you love. [applause] when an american does not come back, including the 1666 americans still missing from the vietnam war, let us resolve

to do everything in our power to bring them home. this is our solemn promise to mothers like this who join us today -- a 93-year-old who has honored her son, missing in action for 42 years. there she is. thank you for your courage. god bless you. [applause] there is a promise we are falling day to a family from -- we are fulfilling today to a

family from arkansas. 43 years after he went missing, we can announce that the army captain, virgil maloney, is coming home, and can finally rest in peace. some have called this war a scar on our country, but here is what i say. as anyone heels, the tissue around it becomes tougher and stronger than before. in this sense, and finally, we might begin to see the true legacy of vietnam. because of vietnam and our veterans, we use american power smarter, we honor our military more and we take care are veterans better. because of the hard work in vietnam, because of you, america is stronger than before. [applause]

finally, on this anniversary, and all the years to come, let us remember what binds us as one people. this is important for all of us, whether you fought in the vietnam war or fought against it or whether you were too young to be shaped by it. it is important that our children understand the sacrifices that were made by our troops in vietnam. for them, it's more than just a name in the history books. it is important we know of the lesson of a gift will once left at this memorial. it was toward the end of the day and most tourists and visitors had departed. there it was, a football helmet black, with white stripes, and a wrist band. with them was a handwritten note from a young man still in

high school. this was more than two decades after vietnam. that high school student was born years after the war had already ended. but in that short, handwritten note, he captured the reverence, the bond between generations that bring us here today. the letter began -- "dear vietnam veterans, here are two things from me to you that i think you should have." he explained it was his helmet from midget football and his wrist band from his senior year. today, i want to close with the words he wrote. in these two pieces of equipment, i was allowed to make mistakes, correct them, grow, and mature as a person.

however, that was on my battlefield. you did not get the chance to do that and your battlefield. some of you were forced to grow up too fast. all he died too soon. we do have many things in common. we both have pride, heart, and determination. i am just sorry you guys had to learn those qualities too fast. that is why i am giving you what i grew up with. you are true heroes and you will never be forgotten. that's from high-school kid born decades after the end of the war. that captures the spirit of this entire country that we should embrace. veterans, families of the vietnam war, i know the wounds of war are slow to heal.

you know that better than most. but today, we take another step. the task of telling your story continues. decades from now, i hope another young american will visit this place and reach out and touch a name. she will learn the story of service members, people she never met and fought a war she never knew and in that moment of understanding, and gratitude, and the grace, your legacy will indoor, for you are all true heroes and you will all be remembered. may god bless you. may god bless your families. may god bless our men and women in uniform. may god bless these united states of america. [applause]

>> thank you very much, mr. president. there is a tradition at the wall when a new name is added. this year, 10 new names were added to the wall. we ask families of these heroes to rise as their loved ones are red. -- read. albet calahanna cueva. jason william hobbin. richard carl hunt.

richard dwayne stocker. david mcclain disowitz. walter allen lindsey. frank a. miry. david decker. larry morgan kelly. johnny owen brooks. >> the wall now bears the names

of 58,282 heroes. ladies and gentlemen, please rise as the president, first lady, and other distinguished leaders take their place at the wall with families of the fallen, represent not only their loved ones, but all who served, suffered, and sacrificed in the name of freedom. >> joining the president and first lady is the wife of the medal of honor recipient sgt sabo, u.s. army. lay a wreath in honor of all who served. joining the vice president of the united states, joe biden,

and dr. joe biden, is the sister of the medal of honor recipient, u.s. air force, in honor of american prisoners of war. joining the honorable leon panetta, secretary of defense, is the mother of major donald emerson shea jr. in honor of all who remain unaccounted for as we renew our commitment to the fullest, -- fullest possible accounting. joining the honorable ken salazar are grady renville, the brother, and the nephew of the army soldier. joining eric shinseki isare the

sons of corporal miry in honor of veterans to bear the wounds of war. joining general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is the brother of captain mary clinker, in honor of all women warriors who served. joining general ray odierno, the wife of sergeant first class howard early, in honor of every soldier who served. joining major-general timothy hanofin, is the mother of the medal of honor recipient, private first class bruce c

onner, in honor of every marine who served. joining a admiral mark ferguson, the vice chief of naval operations, stephanie loper, niece of richard hunt, in honor of every sailor who served. joining general philip, vice chief of staff, united states air force, is colleen, the daughter of lieutenant-colonel anthony cameron shine, in honor of every member of the air force to serve. joining the vice admiral, u.s. coast guard, is henry, the brother, and the suns, of lt. jack columbus racer in honor of every member of the coast guard who served. joining general credit mckinley

is bill and steven, the sons of clyde siler in honor of every member of the guard and reserve who served. joining the honorable william burns, the debt today secretary of state, cindy coleman, the wife of foreign service officer joseph gregory andino in honor of all of the members of the departments who served. joining the honorable john pucari, is commander william cahill, u.s. navy, retired, a vietnam veteran and member of the department of transportation, to honor all lose served in the merchant marine. miss gabriel, the sister of james gabriel, in honor of all special forces.

joining major general victor hago is jenny and dan, in honor of always served. -- all who served. [bagpipes] ♪ ["amazing grace" plays]

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>> present. ["taps" playing]

>> ♪

[applause]

[orchestral fanfare plays] ♪

♪ ♪

>> please be seated. [trumpet melody plays] >> ♪ mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are

stored his truth is marching on glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah his truth is marching on i see in the watch

[indistinct lyrics] his name is marching on glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah his truth is marching on

[applause] in the beauty of the day with the glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me [indistinct lyrics]

glory, glory hallelujah, glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah his truth is marching on glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah his truth is marching on glory glory ♪ [applause] >> please be seated.

ladies and gentleman, a vietnam veterans, thank you. thank you for honoring us with your parents. -- presence. please join me in thanking the department of defense, the department of interior, the vietnam veterans memorial fund, and all who had a part in today's moving tribute. and let us all think the marine -- thank the marine band and the army chorus for their magnificent performance. [applause] with our final selection, i would ask you to stand as you are able during this service song medley. thank you for being so patient. god bless you and the land we love. thank you. [applause]

♪ [indistinct choral singing] ♪ >> ♪ up we go into the wild blue yonder flying high into the sun

♪ ♪ ♪

>> ♪ from the halls of montezuma to the shores of tripoli battles our country's in the air and land and sea. we fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean we are proud to claim the title of united states marines. ♪ >> over here, over there as the army goes fighting along

fight, fight, fight as the army goes rolling along ♪ [applause] >> earlier in the day, president obama was at arlington national cemetery for a memorial day ceremony that included a wreath laying at the tomb of the unknowns.

[shouted commands] ♪

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>> over the next hour, you will hear commencement speeches from michele bachmann, senators john kerry and olympia snowe. after that, memorial day speeches by john mccain and republican presidential candidate mitt romney. new america foundation is hosting a discussion tomorrow on

what has been learned from documents retrieved from 0 osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. you will hear from the author of a report on what the documents say about the future of al qaeda. that is live on c-span to at 12:15 p.m. eastern. also live tomorrow on line, former secretary of state: colorado talks about his new book -- colin powell talks about his new book "it worked for me." that is tuesday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> spend the weekend in wichita, kansas, with booktv and american history tb. saturday at noon eastern, literary life on c-span2. dennis farney on "the barnstormer and the lady." sunday at 5:00 p.m. eastern, on

american history tv, experience early life at the old count on museum. the early days of light at the kansas aviation museum. two participants from a canvas of a rights movement in 1958, they sat down for service at the drugstore. once a month, the c-span local content vehicles explorer of the literary life in cities across america. this weekend, from wichita, kansas, on c-span2 and 3. >> representative virginia foxx, your a former college administrator. tell us about your experiences attending commencement in that regard. >> i am a former community college president and a college administrator. let me tell you that community college graduations and particularly ged graduations are some of the most emotional assault -- emotional graduation's i have ever been

to. most community college students work and have families and go to school also. when those students graduate, it is a family affair. most of them have really struggled to get their degree. the average community college student is 31 years of age. some of them have been out of school for a long time. those are some of the most heartwarming graduations that you will ever see. when i was president of community college, i always have the students speak in addition to having a major speaker. the students would tell their stories. they would usually move you to tears because they were so emotional. >> what do you recall of all your own commencement experiences? >> i was not able to go to my undergraduate commencement. i got my a.b. from university of

north carolina at chapel hill. i was able to go to my master's degree commencement. it was outside in the stadium, a wonderful place to be. i did my doctor work at unc greensboro. that was a very emotional event because i had members of my family there. my parents were not alive, but my god mother, my aunt, and lots of family. that was a very rewarding event for me because it had taken me almost eight years to get my doctoral degree. it was a very rewarding experience. >> congresswoman virginia foxx, now in your fourth term representing the fifth district. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for highlighting this. graduation is an important time for us to celebrate in the united states. >> we recently attended the

commencement ceremony for mount st. mary's university, some miles north of washington. we spoke with some of the school's graduates. >> tell us your -- >> my name is caitlin and i am from newtown, pennsylvania. >> what did you think about today's commencement? >> i love how traditional it was and how support of everyone in the audience, especially up on stage, everyone was so happy for us. it really meant a lot to me, especially when i was walking across the stage, to see the faculty and administrators on stage smiling at me and clapping. it made me feel even better than i thought was possible. >> all above the speakers? >> i think the speakers did a great job. i love the way he inc. it. >> what did you study? >> i studied communications and english. >> what are you going to do? >> i have two interviews next

week. i hope to land positions a sometime over the summer. i want to relax kaput after these four years. >> what kinds of jobs are looking at? >> i am looking a mostly social media, public relations, anywhere. >> i am jeff. i just graduated. i'm from maryland. >> what did you think of the commencement ceremony? >> it was awesome. it was a little bit longer. i guess that is to be expected. awesome. great feeling. >> above the speeches? >> there were good. i like them. andrew shaw was great. some of the speeches could of been shorter. >> how about -- what did you study? >> fine arts. i majored in art. i recently got into design. >> now the of graduated, what is your first course of action? >> go to the beach.

enjoy a week of -- one more week of college life, and then i will endeavor off into the real world. >> do you have a job lined up? >> i do. i have a summer job lined up. i will be sending my resume anywhere and everywhere for graphic design. >> what would you like to do? >> my ideal job would be basically what i did interning here, in charge of designing logos, communication more, stuff like that. >> minnesota representative michele bachmann spoke for 20 minutes at this year's regent university commencement in virginia beach. the former republican presidential candidate is a graduate of the regent law school. [applause] >> thank you, sir. thank you so much. good morning and congratulations to everyone here today. chancellor robertson, president

campo, faculty, staff, alumni, and class of 2012, give yourselves a hand. and this is a day for joy. we rejoice in the marvelous completion that god as brought about in your life. as an alumnus myself, i know the wonderful feeling you have today. just like creation, god look to your graduation and said this, too,just like the creation, god looks at your graduation and says this, too, is very good. thank him for what he has done for you. let us also remember the unsung heroes in each one of your lives, including your families. without them, today would not have been possible. thank them. give them a kiss, give them a day off. whatever they need, they

deserve it. it was 26 years ago when i became an alumni of this law school, and it was 24 years ago where i sat out where all of you are sitting, trying to keep my boys quiet in the seat, as my husband received his diploma from dr. robertson. as i was sitting out there trying to keep our two young boys quiet, i never imagined that i would be running for president of the united states. you just never know. [applause] but i also want to promise you, as you graduate from regent today and become an alumnus, you will never join a more finer club. the dues were stiff, but the benefits are eternal, and will

redound not only to you but the people you serve and minister to in the future. i want to congratulate you on one of the finest investment decisions you have ever made, and i don't just mean your newfound earning potential. your decision to come to regent was an act of sheer obedience. susan,what it was for and for me, too, the voice of almighty god. coming to reach into university was an excellent decision, a life-changing decision. my purpose today is to remind you that this day would not have occurred without the prayer and vision and work of countless generations who went before you. there would never have been a regent university, there never would have been this lovely, albeit hot, ceremony today, without the passion of matthew

24:14, "to preach the gospel to all the nations," had not been the chief motivator for all those i share the platform with today. i want to share with you the origin of one of the schools here, the regent law school. the reason this law school is here today is because there is an eye doctor from muskogee, oklahoma. his eye doctor was a businessman. he had been burned one too many times by crooked, greedy lawyers.

i don't mean to be redundant when i say that, but the eye doctor was a christian, a leading man. he thought to himself, wouldn't the country be better off if we had christian lawyers? even in oklahoma, he could not find christian lawyers. he donated money to start the school of law, which you see now, the regent law school. i was in college at that time, and i sensed god called me to law school. that is not unusual. but to a law school based on biblical review, that was a problem. i couldn't find one because there wasn't one in the country. this was back in 1977. then i found out that this school would not open until 1979. the school had no accreditation, no faculty, no books, no application forms. so i waited. eventually i became the very first student -- susan, does this sound familiar? -- the first student on the first class on the first day of the first year of this law school.

our motto that year as a brand new law school was "we know nothing, and we can prove it." [laughter] what we did know how to do was be people of faith and prayer. we studied extremely hard because we were forging a new way to understand the law. we not only learned the black letter laws that all students have to learn in the united states. in tandem, we also learned what the bible had to say about the particular area of law, down to the most minute technicalities. it was the greatest intellectual and spiritual experience of my life. i would not have traded a harvard education for the legal education i received here at regent.

someday you will appreciate that as well. we prayed our way through navigating this new way of studying law. we grew exponentially, and i will tell you why -- we were taught here under the power of the holy spirit. there is no greater professor than the holy spirit. [applause] because, you see, we woke up and entered our classroom, prayed before every classroom meeting. our watchword was this -- we dedicated ourselves to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. if you look to this direction, the very ministries of cbn and ultimately, regent university, were all born out of that same insatiable desire, to serve the lord. on this very geographical side, the ground upon which you are seated today, to the glory of

god, to advance the gospel. so literally did dr. pat and fellow co-laborers take this charge, they saw by faith everything you see before you now. they birthed it in prayer before any of it came into existent. turn your heads right now, consider every building, every program, every person here today is a result of those prayers and faith in almighty god. see the wealth, see the prosperity, the unparalleled building up that continues today with the building of the divinity school and chapel. you cannot choose a more awe- inspiring visual for the beauty of the world. there were years when pat and the children ate a lot of soybeans, not because it was cool, but because it was cheap.

you know, you are just completing that schedule in your life as well. there were plenty of times when their prayers did not turn out the way they had hoped, either. we understand that, too. but just the way that nehemiah rebuilt the walls in jerusalem, and how quickly the walls were rebuilt, consider how quickly the lord built this world wide ministry and university for his glory, and the advancement of the gospel. you see, it is no fluke that we are privileged to sit and stand here today on this hallowed ground. we, the recipients of unparalleled blessings. it was 405 years ago this week when the very first settlers arrived at the jamestown

settlement. they were famous for starting the settlement, and when they landed, they knelt and prayed, and their prayer was very specific. they dedicated this north american continent to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. that is our pattern that we are forged from. it was some years later in 1979 when a virginia farmer -- you may know him as george washington -- went to new york city and was sworn in as the first president of this new country. after swearing in at federal hall, now wall street, he traveled down to a church, which is located at ground zero. at that church, george washington himself prayed and dedicated this nation to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel.

307 years after the first jamestown survivors stood here, coincidently, again, the very same week, cbn dedicated the very first satellite earth station to the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. that may seem like nothing to you now, in a day when we all have smartphones, in a day when satellite television is everywhere. but at that time, never before in the history of the world, in 5000 years of recorded human history, had gospel been heard around the world. it was the prayers of the jamestown settlers 405 years ago this week, and occured here at this campus at cbn university. all praise and thanks and glory to an almighty god. [applause]

in fact, it was the reverend billy graham who said, the words of matthew 24:14, "this gospel shall be preached a doctrine to all nations" -- dr. graham said it was fulfilled on this campus. don't forget this place, don't forget regent, don't forget cbn university. this is an extremely important part of god's history. i come to you with a warning on this happy morning. do not forget your first love. do not forget the eternal truths you learned here. my heart is broken over the current spiritual condition of america. i ran for president of the

united states because of what i saw happening to our great country. i knew the sacrifices and the prayers and all that had gone on to build up this fabulous nation, and i knew we cannot stand idly by and see it torn down. we needed to stand for it and build it up and pray for it. and so i ran. and yes, we do have political problems, and i'm involved in that process, and i actually thought i had a lot of good answers to those political problems. and we have moral problems as well. as believers, we cannot shy away from the political problems, and we should not. there is a move to tell christians to get out of politics. don't listen to it. we have moral problems. christians cannot ignore the moral problems. ultimately, the foundation of

our problems is spiritual, and that is because even in our nation, even in many of our churches, we diminish the god of the universe by embracing a philosophy that says we must all coexist. have you seen the bumper sticker? "jesus is but one of many ways to god." as believers, we should not offend anyone. even in churches, we cannot get too out there. we cannot talk about sin or the need for repentance, because too many churches tell us that if we talk about sin or sin in church, we might offend people. if we offend people, maybe they won't come to jesus christ. but we forget, that is the point. jesus is the rock of offense, he is the stumbling stone of history. [applause]

the law was given, the bible tells us, to show us our sin. let's face it, we're sinners, and without christ, we are eternally separated from god. even many in the church today are reluctant to say that there is a day of judgment coming, but there is, and there is a literal hell, and without christ, that is the future of man. the gospel in the charter right here at jamestown is that the good and loving god has made his way of escape from sin and from hell. jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, something none of us can do on our own. when we believe in his name, we are saved. that is the fulfillment of the gospel, proclaimed by god, we told by the prophets, fulfilled by christ, spread across the ages to all people, all

nations, tongues, and tribes. we here at regent re the recipient of a big division, given and born in the heart of an almighty god himself. as paul told timothy, "faithfully transfer the gospel of jesus christ." we have been interested with the big vision, big commission. it is from those who saw into the future. never despise small beginnings. that is the fountain of greatness, that one day we would literally be here, the fulfillment, the incarnate literal fulfillment of their prayers. the world thinks christianity is about being nice and letting other people win. i'm just saying, that is not my view, i don't think that is

god's. we are to be on offense with the gospel of jesus christ, going everywhere into every man's world. christianity is a life that is lived by grace and god. in the political world i have been called into, i cannot escape from the seriousness of the hour that we live in. i do believe these are urgent, perilous times, directly tied to the fact that for too long, our nation has neglected a fidelity to the truth of god's word. we are all called to minister somewhere in some way. you have been called, each one of you, to the arts, business, ministry, politics, the law, all for the advancement of the gospel. together, we are the most beautiful picture of the tapestry of his kingdom, a foreshadowing of eternal life in the literal kingdom of heaven yet to come.

just as hell is a real place, be encouraged, beloved, because heaven is also a real place, and every day i find that the political battles are larger. i get what hell looks like, and d.c. can make the answers very maddening. it is like the old saying, the faster we go, the behinder we get. christians cannot give up on politics. sin is ugly. me first, you not at all. sensuality and personal fulfillment. redefining basics like the family. ask any 3-year-old what the family is, and he will be able to tell you, but not the whizbangs in washington, d.c.

number one, your presence at regent and your graduation of the literal fulfillment of generations of urban prayer. be grateful for what others have done for you. second, you hold in your future the ability to bless the world with the lifesaving power of jesus christ. don't miss the ticket to that train. third, you carry the awesome privilege and responsibility of the faithfully living a life all to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel as generations of faithful believers di before you. be grateful for this eternal message, going off for the glory of god and advancement of the gospel. it is the message of regent university.

make that message your own. god bless you all. have a great life. [applause] >> our coverage of commencement addresses continues tomorrow when we hear from eric schmidt of google, ursula burned from xerox, alan molality afford, and the ceo of the pharmaceutical company eli lilly. the speeches are tomorrow at noon and 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> massachusetts senator john kerry delivered the commencement address in newton, massachusetts. he called on graduates to become

more involved in the political process. this is a little less than a half hour. >> incoming president brown, >> members of the board of trustees, distinguished faculty and staff, and obviously, the unexcited and completely irrepressible class of 2012. [laughter] [applause] when the doctor called me to speak, he said that this class wanted somebody who is dynamic and entertaining. [laughter] well, lady gaga wasn't available, so here i am. [laughter] let me begin by extending, you all have been wonderful the way you have embraced me today, i can feel the emotion and hear it in all of your speakers, but

particularly your president. i want to join everybody in extending a remarkable career the greatest congratulations that deserves. the new athletic turf that the mustangs did not get to play on but in the future will. [applause] i am an old lacrosse player, and i mean old. [laughter] it is a great pleasure. this man has really led this college in a remarkable way, and i know you all agree with that. we were classmates in college. i wish him well on his retirement. but speaking personally, he is way too young to retire. [laughter] [applause]

in the united states senate, we would call him one of the young turks still. [laughter] i join in everybody in extending the highest and best wishes to his successor, professor barry brown, and i'm confident, as with all of you, that professor brown will move mount ida forward into a great second century. also, what a privilege to receive an honorary degree in the company i am receiving. clearly, the supreme judicial court justice barbara lenk and gerald chertavian have accomplished amazing things. one is a remarkable job is dedicated to the rule of law and making sure that our justice system works, and the other has touched the lives after being remarkably successful entrepreneurially, and has decided to give that and

make sure that young kids who are at risk and in trouble all have opportunities that don't depend on their bank account or zip code, but open up the opportunities to where they are supposed to. i am honored to receive an honorary degree with them, and i salute both of them for that great accomplishment. [applause] also want to take a moment of what we call in the senate personal privilege, if i may. in the senate, i am lucky to have on my team somebody by the name of alexandra nunez, and here, you are lucky to have alex's mother, or as you call her, dean nunez. mount ida parents thank you for helping to educate their kids, and i thank you for raising an extraordinary kid who is one of my best staffers. she is here somewhere. i am happy to celebrate her.

[applause] i also want to salute the mayor of the great city of newton, who was by my side every single day of the presidential campaign. he was my trip director, responsible for every stop everywhere we made in the country. he was also a staff director, deputy director, up here in massachusetts. i watched him go off to war. he took a year's leave from my office to go to iraq, where he served as an officer in intelligence, and return home now to serve with distinction the city of newton. it is great to see you here in that position. [applause] so here's the deal -- i was just reminded that i am the 10th most senior senator in the united states senate, and with now, regrettably, dick lugar's

loss and the retirement of the senator from new mexico, i will move up to eighth, which is scary to me. [laughter] but the truth is, i stand here now with far more power that i have ever had in the united states senate, because i'm just about all that stands between you and your degrees. [laughter] i ruminated on how to handle that power. on one hand, i thought i might give it one hour, 20 minute speech on foreign policy, global warming, the european debt crisis. then on the other hand, i thought that if we keep it about 10 minutes, we would have more time to have a beer together. [applause] so let me see now, this is a really hard choice. one hour, 20 minutes? 10 minutes and a beer? [laughter]

i tell you, you guys can vote. i'm going for 10 minutes, that simple. [laughter] i have had the privilege of going to quite a few commencements over the course of my senate career, and obviously, as a parent, and as a student. the commencement addresses, i will tell you, are dangerous. they are hard, and they are dangerous because they can quickly and easily fall into too many cliches. you have heard them all. "it is not an end, a beginning." "whatever makes you happy, chase it --" da-da-da-da. [laughter] i thought i would give you some really simple, quick advice, practical stuff.

first, never borrow money from a guy named lefty. [laughter] second, when next march rolls around and you are in your new jobs, don't ask your bosses if they want to go to cancun for spring break. [laughter] third, be really careful with "reply to all." [laughter] [applause] fourth, if you find yourself in las vegas in a wedding chapel marrying someone you met an hour before, think twice. [laughter] fifth, just in case the mayan calendar is right about the world ending in december, wait until january to start paying back your loans.

[applause] sixth, when filling out your profile on eharmony.com -- [laughter] never good to list your life goal as "moving out of your parents' basement when you are 40." [laughter] when you are partying tonight -- [applause] enjoy parties, live it up, do things you never contemplated before. just don't put the footage on youtube. [applause] if you follow all that, you are going to win.

obviously, i am not going to get out of here. carluccio will kick my you-know- what if i don't share something with you of a more serious vein. i will take a few minutes to live up to my obligation. a lot of your thinking about the jobs you are going into, the worlds you are going into. i'd be less than aware of what is going on if i did not stand up here and realize that a lot of you, including your parents, are asking some big and very appropriate questions about politics, our country, where we are. those of you in the veterinary science department are maybe saying what the hell am i going to do with this? [laughter] i want everybody to step back a minute, particularly the

graduating class. take a minute just to think about the revolution in our own country in america, which began when, i think, your parents were kids. it was barely visible 26 years ago when i came to the senate, but which you have seen play out between entering high school and now graduating college. it is a literally a revolution in the way we get information and communicate with each other, and it has changed every aspect of our life, but particularly our politics. it is a revolution that nobody except perhaps steve jobs and the people i remember from college who trudged around with reams of green computer paper under their arms and we wondered what that was all about -- they are the only ones who could have envisioned where we

are today. what began as a department of defense experiment for conditions in the event of a nuclear war has become the internet. 50 years ago, before congress passed a law to break up the monopoly, there was literally only one phone company in america. if you wanted to keep in touch with someone far away, generally, you had to write one of those things called a letter. long distance calls were really expensive. you could walk around with your phone only as far as the cord allowed you to. [laughter] at most, making a phone call was the only thing that a telephone was capable of doing. now we are walking around with mini-computers. they connect not just videos and voice. they connect each of us around

the world and unbelievable amounts of information we have to process. who could have imagined a year ago this spring, tens of thousands of young people your age, millions of miles away, in various parts of the world, whether it was china or egypt, would put down their books, leave their cafes, and pour into tahrir square, and using instagram and facebook, share with the world a real-time view of how you carry out an entire revolution. the news media jumped to call it the twitter revolution. but the truth is that the technology revolution gave us smartphones, but it did not just come out of the data chip.

it came from a lot of people's creative spirit. the revolution in the middle east did not just come from someone's smartphone. it also came from someone's spirit. it reflected people's, particularly a generation's, deepest aspirations. average people, everyday people with extraordinary aspirations. it was a fruit vendor in tunisia, illiterate, uneducated, never had the privilege of studying at a college like mount ida, just another impoverished vendor who cannot afford his pushcart. he was tired of being pushed around by government thugs. he lit himself on fire, and with that fire he lit a revolution that is still

blazing across the middle east. we don't know where it is going to end, but it is the fire that began on a fundamental level because someone somewhere wanted to be like us. they wanted to be free. they wanted to decide things for themselves instead of being told what to do and where the limits were and how far they could go. one of the blessings of living in the modern united states of america is that for the moment, nothing is demanded of you to secure our freedom. we have grown up with that inheritance. relative to millions upon millions of people dropping the glove, we lead relatively comfortable lives. we don't have a military draft anymore. when we go to war, we are blessed with the military that makes sacrifices on our behalf, less than 1% of the nation.

what is expected of the rest of us? what is expected of you after the privilege of this education and hard work of parents and yourself to get here? i want you to take away one thing today. the truth is that we rely on the quality of your education to make a difference. my plea to you today is to use some of it, not necessarily all of it, but some of it, to be the kind of citizens who will help make this country what we want it to be. most of you will not have to leave home to nation build in afghanistan. but every single one of you can help to do a little more nation-building here at home, the same way they are doing. with all the experience and insight i can share with you, we need you now more than ever to take the moment in your lives to make sure you are living out

the privilege and responsibility of just plain old-fashioned citizenship. we need you to help make democracy work again right here at home. you have the tools to do it. i was talking with family and friends the other night. you know how you sit at dinner sometimes and you have a debate about something and you forget, when did we do that, when did this happen? boom -- you whip out your phone and you google it and in the middle of the conversation you have the answer. we never used to be able to do that. questions used to be unresolved. now we can resolve them with facts. today, unfortunately, all the facts in the world are not going to make a difference, my

friends, if they wind up getting distorted in the political shouting match where facts are ignored or made up or facts just don't matter. my great colleague in the united states senate, daniel patrick moynihan of new york, used to remind people that everyone is entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. sadly today, facts are constantly being made up, being ignored, and worse, being bought and paid for by special interests who just put them out there and pretend they are real even though there is no study in the world that says they are. i'm telling you, that is our challenge. i say to you that our democracy is at risk unless we reclaim legitimate debate and accountability. remember, in the 1960's, when

lance and i were in college, teenage kids and college sophomores and juniors dropped out to go and fight for these things. kids risked their lives, some even lost their lives, by going out on buses for the right to campaign for a bunch of americans who could fight in a war but still could not vote. here we are 50 years later, and in the last election, 2010, 60% of our citizens decided it was not even worth exercising that right to vote, if they thought about it at all. believe me, it matters. we sit here on a beautiful day, graduation, looking to the future. on monday, some of you go to work. some of you have time off to go to work. some of you will continue to look for jobs, and you will find them. but when we go to work, we will go to work in the backdrop of a

growing debt, a gridlocked washington, the inability of our country to provide you with a framework to live out the dreams that you are owed. what amazes me about it, and what is frustrating to me, and it really is frustrating at this point, and it ought to be motivating to every single one of the -- there's not one issue in front of this country, not one, not medicare, entitlements, social security, the deficit, infrastructure, energy policy, not one issue for which there isn't actually a relatively straightforward, easily accessible, consensus solution, if we were willing to embrace it. all of them. it is not a matter -- it is lack of willpower, not lack of capacity. it may sound corny to you, but

believe me, it is not. when i get up every day and the senate, it is not corny, it is real. we are still an experiment. when i travel, i have leaders of other countries say to me, "senator, can you guys deliver? is the united states in decline? will you live up to your promises?" i know a lot of you not long from now are going to want to invest in a company or invest in an apartment or invest in a home or invest in a retirement account, insurance policy. i am asking you to make certain that you set a standard for mount ida where you also invest in citizenship and invest in the country. we have so much to embrace in giving us a sense of why we are part of that journey. this is the state where the

revolution began, the revolution for independence. it is the state where the industrial revolution began. it is the state with the technology revolution began. it is the state where the great efforts of abolitionism and women's rights and the environment, all of these great things have always flourished, massachusetts. just think back to john adams, who had to get on a horse in the dead of winter, wrapped in blankets to stay warm, to ride from quincy all the way down to philadelphia, ride several days in the dead of winter, to work on the constitution that we live by today. 225 years later, nobody is asking you to make that kind of trek for our politics, but we need you to be willing to go to a pta meeting, to care about education, to ask questions at a town hall meeting, we need you to call in to radio or tv

show and talk common sense and put the facts on the table. we need you to support candidates and hold a public sector accountable. does that sound like a tall order? not compared to what john adams did, not compared to what general washington and those troops did at valley forge when everybody thought they might be hanged before we even became an independent nation. the time that thomas paine wrote about, sunshine patriots -- we cannot afford that kind of patriotism. class of 2012, i am asking you to get back to the true guts and grit that shipped this nation. -- shaped this nation. i will tell you why it is still there, and why i know it so well. my old friend john glenn, he

served in the senate with me, he is a guy who went to war with the marines. then he went into space, first man in orbit of the earth. then he went to washington and continued to fight as a senator. he used to say something that i think is pretty relevant. "citizenship is the personnel department of the constitution. business is going well, and if it is not, you force yourself into the boardroom and take the reins." you can actually still do that in america. you can transform your sense of right and wrong into action. all you have to do is remember the words of ben franklin when he finished working on the constitution. he walked down the steps of independence hall late at night. they worked for months. people were wondering, what were we going to be as a nation? a woman walked up to him as he came down those steps, tired, and she looked at him and said,

"tell us, dr. franklin, what do we have? a monarchy or republic?" he looked at her and said, "a republic, if you can keep it." class of 2012, you are as much a part of the obligation to keep it and to give life to that concept as any other people in this nation, and you are better equipped than most. help us keep it. our job is to do that. we are counting on you. good luck, and god bless you. [applause]

>> congressman dennis kucinich, you are a member of the education committee. what do you remember from your own college commencement? >> i was looking that day, and i did not go to it. i graduated from case western reserve with a bachelor's and master's degree in speech communications. i have the certificate to prove it. i did not have a chance to go to the graduation because i was working. >> how about giving commencement speeches? >> i spoke at the american university in dubai. it was an honor to be there, with the ruler of dubai and members of the royal family. it was an opportunity to connect to young people who are going to go over the globe. my message was to try to inspire them and give a chance to look of the world in an expansive way. it was an honor to be chosen at the forum, which was previously addressed by president clinton,

secretary of state albright, secretary of state powell. >> how do you prepare to give a speech like that? >> i wrote my speech on the airplane. and to prepare to give a commencement speech -- i guess you prepare your whole life. what you are sharing is your view of what life his and what will be. >> congressman dennis kucinich has spent eight terms representing ohio's 10th district. thank you for joining us. >> whole speech is at kucinich.us. check it out. thanks. >> there is a distinction between success and greatness.

people have lost sight what it means to go after greatness. you can be successful without being great. but you will never be great without being successful. if your whole modus operandi is to have, have, have, and to get, get, if that is all it is about, you are chasing success. but it cannot just be about the chase for success. we must also be concerned about what it means to be great. he who is greatest among you will be your servant. >> watch commander and speeches -- commencement speeches on-the c-span video library. >> in a commencement speech, senator olympia snowe called on

a graduate to build consensus. she is retiring at the end of a third term in january and. this is about 25 minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much for that warm and generous introduction. this is my final graduation speech as your united states senator. i am deeply gratified by the response. president, trusties, parent and above all, the class of 2012, as you graduate today from this exceptional university, congratulations on a

job well done. [applause] i am grateful to the university of southern maine for bestowing on nevis honorary degree and to enjoin with such a distinguished group being recognized at this ceremony. graduates, here you are after of the classes, the late nights, the last-minute cramming, and not fit any of you did that, of course. this is your reward, a speech from a politician. worry, while graduations are special occasions, they need not be eternal. my philosophy is speeches should be shorter than the college career that preceded it. i get the message.

i am cognizant of the fact that i stand between you and those diplomas. in all seriousness, it is a pleasure for me to be here, especially as so many graduates have served with distinction as member of my staff here in maine and in washington. not to mention my niece are a proud and successful graduates. as you prepared to go forward, remember you will always carry with you the remarkable education and experiences you have received here at usm. you have earned it, you have worked hard for it, and this day belongs to you. [applause] it also occurred to me that you

and i share a common bond, we are both the rising at a moment of the change in our lives. although your changes arising at a younger age than mine. you are about to leave here having earned your degree from an institution that has been named to a best in the northeast college by the princeton review. congratulations. as you may have heard, i am about to enter a new phase after nearly 40 years in office. although it is fair to say the institution i'm graduating from does not have quite the reputation of usm. as we expand between my commencement and yours, what is not dissimilar are the questions and uncertainties. those that you have today and

understandably so given the monumental challenges that converged upon our nation and the world. they are evocative of the magnitude of those we faced as young men and women in the tumultuous era of the main line -- the late 1960's. this is a roundabout way of saying i have been in your shoes. there is a common thread i would like to share with you that has enabled me to seize opportunities. and that has made all the difference to route miles life. i never accepted from mothers nor restricted myself to the idea that there were things i could not do if i pursued them. no matter the circumstances, i never take no for an answer and i still do not. asked my colleagues in the senate or my staff, for that

matter. i have always believed that anything is possible and i feel that way not only about my personal life but the life of our nation, embracing a spirit of a can-do speaking to the best of america and americans. it will serve you well as route 0 professional, personal, and civic lives. you're thinking that is easy for me to say but when i was graduating i had no idea i would become the united states senator. they often jokes i never put together a resume. look what happened to me. in my instance, at a very young age, both of my parents, , my mother if first-generation american, died before i was 10 years old.

my father was compelled to make a wrenching decision. he sends me to a greek orthodox institution in new york. less than a year later my father died. as you can imagine with this up the boat, i could have retreated into a personal cocoon of despair. at the time that option seemed like a favorite. but somehow realize there was no alternative but to overcome the obstacles that had descended on made. somewhere between 10 and 11, i was taking a train by myself or my aunt and uncle had brought me into their family. train connections would relegate need to sleeping overnight on a bench in grand central station. but i did it. as i increasingly demonstrated the maturity, i was entrusted

with the care of other children, helping to usher them to their trains before finding my way to my own. i realized i had to bang choices, allow myself to become overwhelmed with tragedies, or learn something from them. thanks to strong the room models, i was positioned to view my setbacks as temporary, not permanent. not just to survive but thrive. i've learned a lesson the conserve all of you throughout your own lives. that is when we find ourselves outside a comfort zone, it is there where we discover the heights to which we can rise. it is a lesson that would reemerge for me in my mid 20's. my first husband was serving in the house of representatives and i was serving on the board of registration and working in the

office of the bill cohen. are received the news that my husband had been killed in a car accident on his way back from a session in the legislative. at 26 years old, i was left to build a life for myself once again. friends and political leaders began urging me to run, and while i have an input -- i realized i had arrived at another crossroads where i could withdraw from the world or determine how to make it positive out of a negative. by virtue of having earned a political science degree, combined with a strong pass and for serving others that had developed out of my earlier

experiences, i decided to run and that one. when i was sitting where you are, little could i have known that a 40 year journey would commence four years after my own graduation from college with a horrific events that could have been the end for me rather than a new beginning. the seeds of opportunity are often buried in the fertile soil that lies beneath the hard surface of change. i want to reassure you by reaffirming it is absolutely possible to distill triumph from the diversity. that is the approach i have employed from my years and i believe can work for you in your own attorney. it is not a question of whether you will encounter difficulties,

and it is really a question of how you confront them that counts. the same is true for our country. as my class -- with a nation divided, neighbor against neighbor, even child against parents, an america where $55,000 -- 55,000 would die in vietnam. a time of massive demonstrations to challenge the status quo every term. fast forward to today in 2012 and yours is also a turbulent world with the shadows of september 11, or we just concluded a decade-long war in iraq thanks to our brave men and

women who served there and continue to serve in afghanistan. [applause] they are on the frontlines each and every day with their sacrifices to deny a terrorists a sanctuary in afghanistan and we can never repay the debt of gratitude that we owe them. we can never forget it. we are also grappling with the aftermath of financial systems run amok that has destabilized banks, the housing market, and has produced the worst economic crisis since the war -- great depression that has resulted in the worsted poster session recovery. history teaches us when we begin to doubt what is possible, given the corrosive the events, just

when we think the night is at its darkest, that is when we summon the collective american spirit to shine the brightest. a spirit that has defined us is as the father -- founding fathers drafted the declaration of independence. but there be no mistake. washington has an obligation to set america on the right course for you, the next generation. we have a duty to make it right and you have a right to demand that your government works for you. [applause] drawing inspiration from the heights we have reached in the past, we can make it right. we can secure our economic

primacy at home and abroad by insuring the era of finding jobs are created right here for you mom on american soil. that is a pathway forward for america and for you. last month time magazine labeled our current economic status the wimpy recovery. we should not be willing to accept a wimpy recovery. that is not the american people 's vision. i know it is not your vision. it should be an overdue call for our nation's leaders in washington. that call has not yet been answered. one notable observer labeled our congress as the worst congress ever. but i can tell you from my four decades in public service, it did not have to be this way.

it should not be this way. what it will require as a commitment to solving problems rather than perpetuating political absolutes. [applause] the kind of absolute so prevalence today that it drive wedges that stand between us and our ability to achieve great things during this moment in the life of our nation. those wedges now prevail in the united states senate, the institution designed to encourage consensus building. bridging the political divide has always been the means of attaining critical and sustainable solutions for

america. think about it. the landmark legislation establishing social the civil-rights act medicare and woven into the fabric of our nation as they are today. it is not even conceivable. they were passed by a bipartisan majorities in the u.s. house of representatives and in the senate. that is the way it should be. [applause] what i call the sensible center, or as some describe it, the vanishing center, has diminished in congress, leaving us with a political era defined by the all or nothing propositions to do everything to advance political agendas for the next election and nothing to advance the

common good for the next generation. what do we have to show for it? we have a 9% approval rating in congress. as one of my colleagues said, i wonder who is the 9%? one scholar wrote, "i think you would have to go back to the 1850's to find dysfunction like the one we are in today." the result is a refusal to work across the political lyles to direct to the challenges that will dictate the quality of our future. it is not by partisanship for the sake of bipartisanship. it is for the sake of our country.

[applause] that is why i came to a difficult conclusion that i would not seek election to a fourth term in the united states senate. in doing so, to paraphrase robert frost, i chose the road less traveled for me. having run 14 elections in the past 40 years, and now i am going to test out the proposition that selecting that pathe will make all the difference. it is not often someone 65 years old he invites a drastic change. there is enough of that already. i think you know what i mean. [laughter] let me be clear. the political polarization can be diminished over the long term which is why i will continue to work to change the system only

now from outside the united states senate. [applause] however, that change will only occur when americans support and vote for individuals will follow the principles of consensus building. i intend to encourage that kind of political reward and give voice to those who believe that we can and we must return to stability in government, driven by a common purpose to work together to fulfill the promise that is unique to america. i urge all of you to champion those goals and charted the course in public life and to follow that path in your own

life because of forging a real solutions whether the government, it can only happen when we are willing to take the risk of working with each other, and not against each other. [applause] which brings us back to perhaps the most stunning example of the fruits of collaborative spirits, and back to 225 years ago when the 55 opinionated leaders from divergent philosophical backgrounds met in the city of philadelphia to forge a document that we all revering shares today, the united states constitution. those delegates were no shrinking violet. they had risked their lives and

fortunes to establish a new nation founded on the principle of freedom. they disagreed and argued about many matters, petty and consequential. an september 1787, 39 of the original delegates signed the most enduring an ingenious document the world has ever known, the constitution of the united states of america. it did not happen because 55 people who shared identical viewpoints gathered in a room and rubber-stamp it, it happened because these visionaries determined that the gravity and enormity of their goals necessitated the courage to advance decision making through consensus and in so doing, and changed the course of human events. to all of you in a class of 2012, the world of the next few

decades will be your world. the opportunity is yours as well as the challenges. as you leave here today, and never forget that our most pressing problems can be surmountable if we refuse to be intractable. embrace the reality that you alone do not have all the answers. i reached out to one another and listen to one another and engage in the marketplace of ideas. search for that common ground where solutions are forged and results are formed. that is the brand of can-do spirit with passion and determination that i urge you to adopt in every facet of your future. always remember that you have the power within you, you have the knowledge and skills you learn from experience, to offer your own version of the outcome

of the change you will encounter in the unwritten story of your life. take conference -- comfort, they will be even more binding upon your departure. they will nurture your accomplishments. they will be your ballpark against misfortune and above all, they will be paramount in sparing you -- preparing you in our community, and in our nation. class of 2012, i applaud you and i urge you to go forward in the highest traditions of the university of southern maine. i have no doubt you are ready, willing, and able. good luck, godspeed, and

congratulations to the 2012 class. take care. good-bye. [applause] >> our coverage of commencement addresses continues tomorrow when graduates here from their schmidt of to go, ursula burns, alan mulally from for and john lechleiter. in a few moments, memorial day speeches by john mccain end can did it mitt romney. any half hour, medal of honor recipients talk about their

lives. after that, memorial day ceremonies from the vietnam veterans memorial. next, and memorial day ceremony in san diego with mitt romney and john mccain. this is a half-hour. [applause] >> it is now my honor to introduce a person that needs no introduction in this community. a retired navy captain, a former prisoner of war, recipient of the purple heart and other awards. a veteran to honorably served his nation and continues to serve his country. welcome senator mccain.

[applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. it is wonderful to be in the most pro-military city in the nation, san diego. it is wonderful to be here. i want you to be nice to them for a change, when you see them driving on the wrong side of the street. do not say anything. i want to say, a great job, a great job, it is a tough act to follow. veterans like to take a few digs at each other and on occasion i have mentioned that when i graduated from the naval

academy, i tried to get into the marine corps but my parents were married. [laughter] i used to tell that for the often until i had a son in the marine corps. he informed me, dad he said, a plane -- mine was late yesterday by four hours. he said, dad, the marine corps is part of the navy department. the men's department. i am not sure if that is true or not. i am honored to be on the same stage with a great friend, a great man, a great governor and a man believe is qualified to be commander in chief, mitt romney. [applause]

we are very grateful that he is here. he believes in american exceptionalism and the 21st century will be an american century and i'm confident of his leadership and i know of his support for veterans and their families. in my youth, i observed memorial day as many americans will, the official beginning of summer and a good day for outdoor recreation. a day off of work to play golf and softball, to go fishing, go to the beach, however, i have found that the older i become, the more meaning memorial day holds. memorial day is a time for retrospection an appreciation of the sacrifices made on our behalf.

in cemeteries all over the country, buglers will remind us of the sacrifices the day is intended to commemorate. in arlington, soldiers from the infantry brigade will place a small american flag at the headstone of more than a quarter million graves, they bear names of every ethnic origin and marked the final resting free -- places of soldiers rich and poor, a christian, a jew, and muslims, a believer in nonbeliever, dark skinned and white, city dwellers and people from what -- small towns, day laborers and presidents.

[jeering] [applause] >> jerk. [applause] my friends, families in every place in america have a relative or ancestor buried there. besides their common humanity, only one thing for certain connects these men and women who

are entered -- interred, they loved our country and risked everything to defend it. at gettysburg, iwo jima and midway, fallujah, all these battles, all of these tests of courage in character, that made a legend of devotion to duty. it helps instructed those who defend our country today in their duty. and it instructs those of us who have bp privilege and burden of bearing arms for our country. it does not depend on the heroism of every citizen but all of a should be worthy of the

sacrifices made on our behalf. we have to love our freedom. not just for the private opportunities it provides, or the goodness it makes possible. we have to love it as much as the brave americans who defend us at the risk and the cost of their lives. we must love it enough to argue about it and to work together to serve its interests in whatever way our abilities permit, whether it calls us to arms or altruism, or to politics. you know as well as i the world we live in is an uncertain one. it holds a dangerous for us and everyone for whom freedom is the habit of the heart. wills in humanity to man never be entirely extinct. no matter how long piece

indoors, it is always temporary. -- peace endures, it is always temporary. we will be asked to bear the burden that only the brave can endure. it is a better world than our fathers inherited and their fathers before them. a world purchased at a great and terrible costs by sacrifices on killing grounds better now green fields and quiet beaches, and in peaceful corners of the world. we should be proud of what they did, proud and humble. tomblin the knowledge that we enjoy our freedom because of the devotion of americans who sacrificed to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, those americans for whom a duty, honor, their comrades and love of country where more dear to

them than life itself. when the time came for them to answer their country's call and fight on a field they did not know, they came. on small islands, and jungles and mountains size, in the air and on and below the water, they served well the country that sent them there. in battles won and lost, they held a lantern of courage and faith that illuminated the way home. history does not remember all of them as individuals. we do not even know where they all rest but we must not forget what they did. there otter is eternal and will live in our country for so long -- honor is eternal and will live on in our country. heroes to assault, who lives,

fought, and died for the safety and future of a great and good nation. god bless them and grant them perpetual peace. thank you. [applause] >> we will now have the opportunity to hear from our very special guest, a friend of all veterans and one that we hope will be our commander-in- chief, mitt romney. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. wow, what a welcome. thank you. thank you. what and honor it is to be here with you today to have you join in celebration of our nation's history -- heroes. thank you for the introduction. i am not sure what had to that belongs to, but i do not think it is going to be adopted. but it is keeping your head out of the sun. senator mccain, thank you for being here and honoring all of our veterans. we are gathered in the memory of the greatest generation and of the great men and women of every generation who served in our armed services.

greatness in a people is measured by the extent to which they will give themselves to something bigger than themselves, the sacrifice for a cause of significance. when that sacrifice is self, and for a purpose and principle > self, surpasses our understanding by the widest margin and recall that greatness heroic. we are a nation that has been formed and reserved by heroes. john mccain is one of them. [applause] he likes to joke that he has the capacity to fly his aircraft into an enemy missile. the the truth is his heroism was climbing into the plate in the first place and going in harm's way and being offered an opportunity to return home and turning it down saying instead he would consent only of his

colleagues and those brought to the prison camp before him went home first. an american hero of courage and conviction and character. in this audience, there are a number of heroes. we just heard from nick, are veteran of the year and others who have been heroes. there are others are would like to mention not because they are only -- they are the only heroes because they represented greatness of the american spirit. one is donovan leavitt, enlisted in 1953, served in korea and vietnam. he risked his life to rush out and rescue another soldier. he received the purple heart and

a silver star for bravery. he says he does not understand why people call him a hero. but we do. master chief leavitt, would you please stand and derecognized? -- be recognized? thank you. william laughin, flying the b-24 liberator, a model we have behind us. in 1944 over europe, he was shot down and taken prisoner. for courage he was awarded the purple heart and a presidential citation. please stand, capt. laughlin, and be recognized by your friends.

jack richard evans, he was 17 years old when he was stationed on the uss tennessee on the day of the pearl harbor attack. he was a lookout and as he was looking into the aircraft coming into the ship, and he looked into the eyes of the japanese pilots before he was wounded. he received a purple heart, he went on to become a navy pilot, he reached the rate of captain, he served in the second world war, in korea, vietnam, and retired after 33 years in the navy. join me in recognizing captain jack evans. please stand, captain. [applause] all of those who served in our military, or who are now

serving, please stand and be recognized. [applause] gentlemen and ladies, thank you. if a person's greatness is measured by their willingness to sacrifice for a greater purpose, a nation's greatness is also measured in the same light. years ago when i happened to be serving in massachusetts we have the visit of a foreign record -- dignitary. he was taken to an apartment and we had lunch with him. someone said to him, what do you think about america postal conflict in iraq? this was at the year the stages of the conflict. he said before i answer, i have

to put it in context. america is unique in the history of the world. in the history of the world, whenever one nation has been successful in combat, they take land in reckoned hands because the land is the source of value on the planet. when nation has been willing to lay down the lives of hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters and take no land in return. america is unique. america is exceptional in the history of the world. general colin powell went on to say the only land america has taken is enough land to bury our dead. i am proud to be a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of the earth. [applause] our love of freedom and our

willingness to sacrifice continues to this day. my sons and daughters to sacrifice in innumerable ways for this country. toward the end of my term serving as governor, i was invited by the department of defense to go to iraq and afghanistan to toure various sites there and see soldiers serving from my state. we were taken from a base to base, camp to camp, and i got to say hello to our soldiers. i said i want to make the request of view. if you would like me to talk to your spouse and tell me -- tell him or her how well you look, right down there phone number in their name. if you're notif you are not mare your parents' names. by the time i left, i had 63 pieces of paper in my pocket. i thought it would take a long

time to make those calls. the next morning, as i woke up, i thought before the kids woke up and we had the day together, why not make three or four calls to get started on this list? but the second or third call, the woman who answered the call said, "hello, governor romney. i thought that might be you calling." i said, "what do you mean?" she said, "you called a couple of the spouses this morning. we emailed our spouses in the theater, and the e-mail their bodies throughout the national guard and the armed services and said to expect your call, so i expected you would be calling to the." so i made 63 calls on memorial day. [applause] i must admit i was a little

concerned, a little nervous. this was a time when the conflict was not going well. there were some in politics who were saying we had lost in iraq and should go home. some thought we should just throw in the towel. i knew that as i called there might be some who would be inclined to ask them what we were doing there. in 63 calls, most of which were answered by someone at home, not one person criticized or critique or thailand to our mission. i would end the call in every case by saying roughly these words on behalf of the commonwealth of massachusetts and our great country, i wish to express appreciation for the sacrifice your family is making and your loved one is making in the service of his or her country. they would either wait until i was finished or interrupt me,

and say roughly these words. it is an honor to be able to sacrifice for the nation which is the hope of the earth. we love this great land. i wish i could tell you that the world is a safe place today. it is not. as the national sponsor of terror around the world, the thoughts of fissile material in the hands of terrorists is unthinkable. pakistan is home to some 100 nuclear weapons. china is on the road to be a military superpower. russia is rebuilding their military, led by a man who believes the soviet union was a great as opposed to evil empire. chavez is campaigning for power

through latin america. mexico is under siege. the third spring has become a winter. the world is not safe. we can follow the path weight of europe, shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs. they, of course, rely upon the strength of america, and they hope for the best. were we to follow that course, there would be no one who could stand to protect us. the others commit to preserve america as the strongest military of the world, with no comparable power anywhere in the world. [applause] re-choose that course. we choose that course in america and not so that we win wars, but so that we can prevent wars. a strong america is the best deterrent ever invented.

today, we honor those who have served. we dedicate ourselves to strength, and to preserving the freedom for which they gave their lives, and walked in harm's way. as the greatest generation sees its light slowly fading, our duty is to take up the torch they carried so gallantly and so bravely, with such great sacrifice. it is a torch of freedom, of decency, of hope, democracy. it is not america's torch, but it is america's duty and honor to hold it high enough the entire world can see it, and see its like. i love this great country. i love the people of america. i love those serving. i love the great men and women who serve in our armed forces today.

god bless this nation. keep it strong. keep us true to the principles on which it was founded. god bless america, and god bless you on this great day. thank you so much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ["mine eyes have seen the glory "]

♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the retiring of the callers. -- o fthe -- of the colors. [no audio]

>> we will now have "taps." a latin that is an honor of -- that is an honor. thank you.

thank you all for joining in on this memorial day event. thank you for your service. ["anchors aweigh"]

>> next, medal of honor recipients tell their stories and offer advice to students. the veteran spoke to students at the ronald reagan presidential library, and a larger audience online. this was hosted by the presidential learning center and the medal of honor foundation. it is an hour and 15 minutes. [applause] >> for those of you i have not yet had the good fortune to meet, my name is tony pennie, and i am the director here at the learning center at the ronald reagan presidential library foundation. you saw a video introduction to the work being done at our partner organization. today, you have an opportunity to witness the power of this

education program. the tradition here at the foundation, to honor our men and women in uniform by saying the pledge of allegiance, so please rise. [pledge of allegiance] thank you very much. please be seated. before i invite our special guest to the stage, i would like to point out a few of the people we have in the audience, who are here to suggest the learning does not necessarily stop when

the bell rings or your diploma is conferred. we have in the audience today roy rocco and his wife, christina. we have in the audience 8 corporal benjamin robert smith, and his wife emma. he is a recipient of the victoria cross, the preeminent award for acts of bravery in wartime, and australia's highest military honor. thank you for joining us all the way from australia. from our partners at the congressional medal of honor foundation, we have a number of members of their board, as well as family members i want to recognize. that includes donald schwartz, jennifer ludden, and all of the family members of our panelists. thank you for coming today.

from the office of our state senator, we have miss linda johnson. i would also like to take a moment to recognize all of the veterans and active duty and -- active duty military who have joined us today. please stand and be recognized for your service. [applause] in remarks to the congressional medal of honor society in 1983, president ronald's reagan said freedom, we must always remember, is never more than one generation away from extinction. each generation must do whatever is necessary to preserve it and pass it on to the next, or it would be lost forever.

i speak to our audience of students about both parts of what president reagan said about insuring freedom. each generation must do their part first to preserve freedom. our speakers today represents some of america's best efforts to preserve freedom over the generations. but to preserve freedom is not enough. president reagan also points out the necessity of passing it from one generation to the next. the congressional medal of honor foundation has put together a remarkable curriculum, which invites students to delve into the stories of medal of honor recipients, and explore courage, commitment, sacrifice, patriotism, integrity, and citizenship. it is one of the finest examples i have seen of how we can press -- pass on these generations of freedom from one generation to the next. a lot of the discussion of education happens in the media, in politics, and in general

results around tests. from kindergarten onward, you have been tested continuously. some might say relentlessly. the word test, for some of you, probably causes a physical reaction that is not positive. your scores in literacy and math are used to evaluate what you have learned and how well your schools and teachers have done. you have spelling tests, math tests, science tests, physical education tests. just when you think you have been tested enough, you spend a week or two filling in bubbles on the exam. we call these high-stakes tests. i want to let you in on a little secret. the test that you take in the classroom is not the real high- stakes test. the tests you take out side of the classroom, the tests you cannot really prepare for -- those are the real tests. a real test is standing up to one of your best friends if you

think that are being a bully. the real test is being honest, even if it would be more convenient to live. the real test is when you are on patrol in the french countryside, and your platoon comes under heavy fire from german machine guns and mortars. a staff sergeant was in this scenario when he scrambled to the top of the mound of earth specifically to draw the attention of the machine guns and the martyrs, so the other members of his platoon could flee to safety. in a real test is would you are flying a medevac helicopter -- is when you are flying in and attack helicopter in fog and fire, trying to rescue soldiers. major general brady flew through precisely these conditions. despite the 400 blowholes found in the helicopters he flew that day, he was able to rescue more than 50 men. the real test is when an infantry commander closes a landing zone to further

operations because of the intensity of enemy fire, but you know american forces are in desperate need of aid. under the circumstances, a man made 22 flights in an unarmed helicopter, delivering in europe -- delivering ammunition, and tibet to winning more than 70 wounded men. despite having slept for 36 hours, you are sent down the river to join an intense battle. colonel vargas, in just this situation, carriage fellow marines to hundreds of yards of intense enemy fire to get them to a safe evacuation site. only after three days of battle did he allow himself to be treated for shrapnel wounds. no amount of cramming could prepare you for these tests. lucky for us, we have role models like our panelists, who are willing to pass their lessons on to the next generation. i invite you to please join me in welcoming these men.

[applause] your seat is the first. you are in this first seat. [applause] i would like to start our panel by asking you to reflect a little bit. the name of the curriculum the

medal of honor foundation has developed is called "lessons of personal bravery and self sacrifice." i would like to ask you to reflect on what that means, given your experience. after that, we are going to turn to our student audience for questions. let us start here. we will head to the left. staff sergeant? >> i am walter. i was born and raised in the state of kansas. world war ii broke out in europe. i was going to high school. my grandfather was actually a german born in the united states, and so forth. he told us we were going to have a war with germany, or something like this.

1941, a graduate from high school. my brother and i decided we wanted to join the army. he was 4 years older than i am. we went down to fort rhetoric, kansas. -- ford reddick, kansas. my time changed when i had to go home and get my mother is signature. my dad said he would sign, but she looked me in the eye and she said, with tears in her eyes, "i will only sign if you promise to be a christian soldier." i was shocked, but i promised her that i would do my very best. i remember from that time on she made the impression on me that if i was not going to be a christian soldier, i would dishonor.

-- dishonore her. i took that with me through my military career. i did not do anything unusual, and i did not do anything that would dishonor her. i did not want to dishonor gone. i had a terrific military career, five years in military service. i had three landings. eight campaigns. i went all the way from casablanca and french morocco, sicily, and omaha beach, in normandy. that is how i got started. my life has been changed ever since. it was the best thing that ever happened to me, when she told me that, because i can still remember it, as clear as today, those tears in her eyes.

they were coming straight from the heart. the bad this thing that happened to me in military service -- baddest thing that happened to me in military service was my brother got killed on the day. -- d-day. i have been back several years, and it is an honor to go back and to respect ahead -- respect the lives of these people, who gave so much. i saw some many people killed on -- so many people killed on d-day. i talked to schools all the time. one little girl asked me, "how many people did you kill?" i said, "i was not trained to kill people. i was trained to kill the enemy,

and they were trained to kill me. i was probably here today because i did what i had to do. i did learn a lot from my mother, and that set me straight throughout military service." >> is it my turn? [applause] he has me all choked up. my name is pat brady. i am universally known as the greatest helicopter pilot who has ever lived. [laughter] you are privileged today to meet the greatest helicopter pilot, in the second greatest, although that is questionable.

i remember the medal of honor society, for many years -- i know i do not look that old. the greatest thing we have ever done in our society, and we have done a lot of things with young people, with every crowd that we thought was right and just. the greatest thing we have ever done is this educational program that you are here to learn about. they ask a guy, "if you had it to do over again, would you do it differently?" of course, we can't. we have had our time. we are out of the arena. we cannot live our lives over again ourselves. but we can live our lives over again through young people. we have been where you have been. you have never been where we have been. a boss of mine one time looked at me. i really screwed up something go

bad. he said, "do not feel bow bed -- do not feel bad. nobody is a total loss. you can be a bad example." we are here as a bad example, to steer young people around the obstacles we face. we go out and teach things like honesty and integrity, central elements to young people. our program goes about to teach patriotism, courage, sacrifice, how to define a hero, through the experiences and vignettes of those of us who earned the metal. that is what we are useful for and dedicated to for the part of life that is left for us. this is a great thing we do we are happy to do it.

we are looking forward to your questions. [applause] >> my name is bruce, and it is always nice to get the mic after pat. half the people who got the medal of honor, you might think, are helicopter pilots. that is not so. we had six total, although we had some of the heaviest losses in conduct -- in combat. one of the privileges i had was commanding u.s. troops in combat. the greatest responsibility i ever had was commanding troops in combat. i spent five days at fort jackman, going through some of the training of our troops to in basic training, and i can hardly walk now. i am not fit for basic training

anymore. six -- when i graduated from high school, i was 5 foot 6 inches, weighed 140 pounds, and did not know what i was going to do, except i was going to play baseball. i got drafted by the army instead of the yankees or the orioles for the cubs. my batting average was three times my grade point. that is not so bad, if you are graduating. i ended up making a career out of the army. part of it was because i had been raised in a home where service was one of the requirements. my uncles had served in the navy. my mother went to work in a

shipyard as a welder. a great uncle came to live with us, so that he could help take care of us. my grandmother lived with us. my grandmother lived with us. we learn by example during the war what we owe to our country and how lucky we were to be in our country. the young people of today are probably the best generation we will ever have. some guy wrote an article about the second world war and said they were the some guy wrote an article aboutt generation. we are trying to pass on a legacy to you young folks so that you understand that courage is not a battlefield example. you all will have situations where you will be required to have courage, to say no when his dog proper answer, when others

of the angus come to stand up for what is right. you will learn teamwork and relationships in your school life and then your real life. hopefully ever have to sit on the battlefield. no one hates war more than zero warrior. we as a group feel that way -- no one hates war more than zero warrior. the average age of this group is my age, and i don't want to talk about that. [laughter] we have three young guys that came on and they dropped our average age by one year. that did not make me feel any younger. i am real supporter of the program, and i am willing to help in any way i can to see that it gets to our young people. even in australia, i will be glad to know the teatime is

ahead of time. thank you very much for having me here and it is a pleasure to be in the reagan library again. [applause] >> good morning. the first thing i will say it's to the teachers and all the employees that work in the schools around our nation, especially the state of california. thank you for everything you are doing with our young generation. i have been in your shoes. i love to teach, still do, and i know the hardship she were going through in making great citizens out of these people that are here today and throughout the state of california. to ben and emma, thank you very much for being here, and the

rest of the australian team, is always an honor to meet another warrior who has been highly decorated. it is an honor to be in your company. thank you very much. a guess i am a little different than some of the -- i am not a helicopter pilot. i was in the marine corps, and a company commander. i did save about seven of my marines by going back into the battle and going forward with those that were knocked down, including my battalion commander. but there is more to that story. it tied in with an golden keys that my brothers gave to me. on the that i was about to go in to the corps. a lot of what transpired in my particular situation is based on those keys, and i am going to share them with you. hopefully some of you can put

them in your pocket and maybe use a couple of them. i parents were immigrants could my mother was from italy and my dad was from spain. two of her sons were in world war ii. one fought on iwo jima and one fought in open now. --okinawa. the case they get me as i was departing one evening from a small town in northern arizona real very useful. it all came true. my mother, for example, already had three marines, one in korea and to in world warii --two in world war ii. when i came home, i was devastated, having not been able to climb that ladder all the way up, but i had a wonderful

father taught me, just look out for you went up the ladder. it was an honor, too. then i decided i wanted to go into the officers' corps and was in the marine corps. my mother had convinced my three brothers that you get in there, you sit down with him and tell him he is going to the navy. he is not going to be a marine. that evening, she took my brother and my dad and told him to go start the car, we are going for ride. his conversation did not last very long. my brother says, we have been told by mom to convention not to go in the marine corps like we did. -- to convince you not to go in the marine corps like we did. my older brother and the los

that if you don't, we are going to break your legs. [laughter] they were all highly decorated. they did not receive the highest awards, but they received quite a bit. the golden teased as they sat with that evening with me, i want to pass them on to the young people -- a golden keys. always said a good example. set your standards high. always take care of your fellow men. the third one was kind of tough. whatever you do, don't ever ask a marine or anyone you are leading to do anything, in peacetime or in combat, that you would not do. how does that relate to you? if you go back to the first one, setting in your standards and examples high. at this stage in life, you should be writing down some objectives, but make them

reachable objectives. be yourself. believe in yourself. believing your god, or whatever supreme being you believe in. always take care of each other. truly take care of each other. learn to do it now and make your friendships today, because friendship at your level right now will always be forever. like the rest of us, and still close to my high school and appears that i had when i was growing up. we still communicate. take care of each other. in my time, and then there's, we did not have drugs. how did not know what those work. the main thing was, you don't need it. the energy that you can create within your little hearts and your bodies and minds is within you right now. it is a god-given gift. i will conclude by simply saying that enjoy life, it is

truly a one time around. right now is when you want to establish yourself into what you want to be in the future, a great citizen, a great leader, a great future teacher, and educator, whatever dimension you want to get into. what promise me that you will take some of these golden keefe and used them. i transferred them from the core into my everyday life, and they work. they are very simple. set your example, set your standards high, take care of yourself, and never asked anybody to do something you would not do yourself. thank you. [applause]

>> now we are going to get some questions from students. many of the students in the audience have been studying your stories in going through some of this curriculum and learning quite a bit about the medal honoring what it means. some of the traits that are described in the curriculum. just as i know, in the audience we have bill and heather who worked -- who both work with the medal of honor foundation. we will start over here. go ahead. >> firstly, i wanted to thank the panel as well as the collective middle of honor recipients across the country for your undying service to our country. i am here zang from arcadia high school. my question was, following your

respective experiences in the field, how would your reintegration back into society? >> the question was, after your experiences in battle, what was it like to come back into society? >> i would like to answer that one, because i came back to california and became a city manager in northern california, and i like combat better. [laughter] [applause] i actually spent three years doing prop 13, so those of you who were alive and understand the problem. [applause] leadership in the military or outside is the same.

never leave from the back -- never believed it from the back. don't ever do things that you know -- that you don't know are the right thing to do. that goes from civilian life outside. >> like pat, i stayed in the years and continued on with leadership, taking care of the marines, commanding different commands from a company up to an infantry regiment of 5000 marines. but nothing changed as far as my views toward society. i was very proud of what the marines did, as well as all of us that fought in vietnam. some people cry that we lost the war. i never lost the battle.

i should not say i, we never lost the battle. the war was in our hands to win, but things happen with that we decided as a society, put so much pressure on the campaign. but it did not change my views as to live and the love of my country. i enjoyed teaching students. >> i stayed in the military after i came back, and i don't regret -- there may be a lesson in this, i don't know. i did not want to go in the military. when i came out of high school, i had an opportunity to play football at several universities, but there was this

foxy young chick, and she was going to university that did not have a football team, but they did have rotc, and it was mandatory. i hated it, every day. so i kind of put up with the military, and then one thing led to another and i ended up in vietnam's for a couple of years. my thing was, i was in berlin when they built a wall. i looked around at the leadership and the people i saw who were serving their country in uniform, something i did not want to do, and i box -- i was there with norman schwarzkopf. i looked at these guys, and we get off the train in berlin, germany. a guy meet me, takes me to an important -- takes me to an apartment, there stood in the refrigerator and everything.

the commander's wife the next day comes to see my wife, who was pregnant with our third child. wow, these people or something else. then they built the wall, we went through that kind of stress, shooting their own people off the wall. i just looked at the people around be in uniform and said there are some really wonderful leaders here. i would like to grow up and be like them. so i stayed after the time in the military and learned a great many lessons as far as courage, sacrifice, what a real hero is, those things that hopefully we'll talk about later on. so did i. it reduced audit not come back into society after the military, i stayed in. i got to serve with some of the greatest people i have ever been around anywhere. knowing what i know now, i probably would have left home when i found out my parents were civilians. [laughter]

but i love to be around military people. all young people ought to take a good, hard look at it. it will change your life. you will see leadership like you'll never see anywhere else. you are all part of the greatest generation. just take a look at it. it is a wonderful way to spend your life, even if you are only in for a couple of years. what the heck? you are still serving your country and you'll come out with great skill, discipline, and stuff like that. i did not have a problem coming back into society after combat, not one bit. say.ve got something to i am the lowest rank up here. i am not staff sgt. i was a second lieutenant when i got my medal of honor. [applause]

it was a battlefield commission, and on behalf of all the battlefield commission officers, i am a second lieutenant and the lowest ranking officer of here. that was for leadership. our love of the staff sergeant right because it was better than second lieutenant -- i loved the sat -- staff sgt rank it really is a higher rank and what i am. it is a very good thing to be a staff sergeant, so i am kind of happy about that. i want you to know that these battlefield commissions did not come easy.

you had to be a terrific leader in the battlefield to get a commission in the first infantry division. i found that out for sure. on december 9, was commissioned an officer. on december 16, on the day the battle of the bulge started, i became a second lieutenant in paris, france. so i did have some leadership training. [laughter] >> we are honored to be with you all. now that you have promoted yourself, you have to buy the first round of drinks tonight. [laughter] >> on the second lieutenants pay, that is going to be tough. >> my question is, were you traumatized by all of the

wounded soldiers your rescue? >> i had a real problem with blood and needles, especially the needles. whenever vaccinating me, i just hated that. the first time they took blood, i fainted. so i was very apprehensive about going into a combat situation where people were in the course of the day, into tours in vietnam i picked up over 5000 people. we saw the human body in every possible, horrible configuration that it could be in. i was really worried about how i would physically react to that. even today, if i look on television at an operation or a needle, i turn it all. in combat, in the environment,

it did not bother me. what bothered me is that people were hurt. that bothered me very much, but it did not physically bother me. i was so busy with what i was trying to do. there is nothing in the world greater than to save a human life. the teachers and the coaches do this also. they save their young lives. but to find your way through a bunch of obstacles -- with meat being the greatest helicopter pilot that ever lived, i could find a way in there that no one else could find. to get your hands on the person who is seriously hurt and put them in the hands of the positions that can really say there live. that was a thrill beyond anything in life that i can think of. steak, lobster, sex -- can i say

that? i don't care what it is. there is nothing in life to match saving human life. i guess that helped me overcome my incredible physical aversion to needles and blood. [applause] >> hyper who or what inspired you to join in -- who or what inspired you to join, knowing you might not come back? who or what inspired you to join the military? knowing that you might not come back from vietnam. >> i got inspired by a letter

that said greetings, you have been selected. [laughter] i suggest that if they ever start the draft again, they start the letters "saying readings, you have just been shafted by uncle sam." if i had a choice, i could have gotten out of going because i was in the national guard picks all i do is tell the draft board that. but i knew i had to start at some time. i weighed 143 pounds and was 5 ft. 6. i felt like a couple of years in the army playing ball would be good for me, so i went in the army.

the draft is the worst thing that ever happened to the military, in my judgment. it should not ever happen again. the draft did not give us bad people. it gave us some great people. a lot of them have college educations or partial educations. of what it did, gave a local judge in the share of the opportunity to tell our young hoods that they either go in the army or go to jail. all they did was change where they went to jail. today they are all volunteers and they are doing a wonderful job. we ought to keep the military strong enough to encourage people to stay in that join, and to make their families live good enough so that they will. if i had it to do all over again, i would have done the same thing, because i found a career in the military very satisfying.

i also found a career after i got out pretty satisfying, coming to arizona. [applause] >> i was wondering what was going through your mind when you committed your act of bravery. >> my troops, my marines, their safety, and concentrating on bringing artillery, aircraft, helicopters, gunships in through the zone to annihilate the enemy. they always came first. still do. but i believe that is the way it should be. i think my brothers gave me some good advice about asking to do

anything you would not do. i ended up taking machine gun misses and setting a couple of folks when my platoon got pinned down acrobatic. my troops were first in my life. >> that is the way it should be. [applause] >> i want to know how the war changed too emotionally. -- change you emotionally. >> bruce always says he was 140 pounds and tall. i was about your size when i joined the marine corps. emotionally, i think it was the strong belief in god that really gave me the foundation to be strong and to accept life as it

came, and probably the good advice my brothers gave me. they told me some ugly things before i went into combat, into the corps, i should say. it is not matter what we saw in vietnam. what amazes me is what the gentleman to our right, lieutenant walter ehlers. what they went through in world war ii is just unbelievable. you cannot describe it. yes, we did see a lot. we did fight against some good warriors against us, but it did not really bother me emotionally. there were times when i came home it is i think this is true of all of us. take some time to kind of wind down. today a lot of our young troops are having difficulty with ptsd.

the numerous deployment they are going on is just breathtaking. i think it is because we did the other thing and is because bruce and i, we did okay in baseball. he was an all-american and i was an honorable mention all- american in our day. i think playing sports and physical activity and studying and accepting failure is something that is hard to accept, but that was one of the bullets of wanted to give you. there were times when i slipped, like all of us. it did not change my life. i wanted to get better. that is how you should be. he should be one of the best citizens of the state of california. how is that? [applause]

>> my question is for any of you gentlemen. when you were saving men, if you think of them, or did you think of their families? >> i thought solely for my marines. as an example, there was one of my marines whose arm was just blown off, sitting by a tree. they were fighting as hand-to- hand. i promised i would go back and get him. how do i feel about that? i went back and found him. when i had him on my shoulder and i was running back to give psmen ", he "rny skipper, i want my damn arm."

so i went back and got his arm, and then we put him on the chopper. >> i never thought about it at the time, but when we saved a soldier's life, we were also saving a husband or a son, and also the grandchildren and great-grandchildren that would come from that one soldier's life that we saved. you don't think about that at the time, but that was something that i thought about later on. like any kind of life saving, it is just a wonderful thing to be able to do, but at the time that it is going on, you are so busy that the only emotion is really focused, concentration, to try to get the guy out and get him

to the hospital. later as i have reflected on the number of children and grandchildren and marriages and stuff like that that were involved in the lives that we saved over there. so that is a gratifying thing for me. >> thousands of missions that he flew in, he picked up not just one or two wounded warriors. i would say he saved 1000. >> one of the things that the vietnam war produced was medical evacuation from all of our cities and remote hospitals and stuff. that is one of the really positive things that came out of that work. we say blocks of life in the civilian community afterwards. when you are doing the job, you don't think about it. you never get to meet the people you are carrying out and they don't get to meet you.

if i could find out all the guys i carry on, i would charge them $5 apiece and then retired again. [laughter] but you treat the guys on the ground, they were my family. it actually develop a sense of ownership with them. you keep that for years afterwards. we will get together in another month or so, the group that was in that battle. it is great to do. we had each other on the back and then we talk about how old it looks. we developed a relationship that is important on the battlefield, but it does come back to when you get back home and get to meet the families and

realize there are that many grandchildren and running around. >> that is what i said earlier. now is the time to start taking care of each other. it is not that hard. i am not saying you have to love everybody completely, but now is the time to establish hot that camera robbery among yourselves and your classmates, and -- time to establish that camaraderie. >> sometimes you'll meet people in strange places that you actually rescued. in combat, we knew each other only by call signs. one day i am doing a demonstration at a teleconference that shows the community around fort benning held that helicopters looking

combat. this beautiful young thing -- beautiful young lady walked up to me and said, can i hug you? i said, you can hug me all day. so she did. shortly thereafter, her husband came behind her and he was limping. to make a long story short, it turned out that i was the pilot, and he recognized my call sign. i had picked him up in vietnam when he was wounded. another time i am going to the handball courts and somebody said, are you double nickel? i said yes. he said he did me a favor one time, what do you drink? i said scott. the next day he has a half gallon of johnnie walker black scotch.

we do tend to be people that you have rescued in combat, which is very rewarding. >> thank you for the question. [applause] >> we will take one more live question. i want to mention that we have an online audience that wanting of the web cast. >> walter ehlers, if you could go back to war, would you change anything? >> if i went back to the war, i would be sure that all the

soldiers had as much training as they could possibly get before they were put into a war. that is the most important thing. i did not get mike cuellar for being rambo or anything like that. i was only doing my job. i had two years of training before ever went to war, -- i did not get my medal of honor for being rambo. when i got my medal of honor, i was only doing my job. i went out and rescued a man who had gotten wounded after we let the rest of the squad returned to cover, safely back behind hedgerows there. it is something that you do naturally. you don't think about it, and i didn't know anything about getting a medal of honor until december of 1944.

i got it for the ninth and 10th of june as a staff sergeant, and everybody says what were you doing, and somebody said why don't you go back, what were you thinking? i said i was not thinking, i was just doing my job. had i been thinking, probably would not have gone back for it. things like that happen. i have to tell you that -- i am not telling you to be a christian or anything like this, but i am telling you what it does for you. for instance, i had a and i ask him to go to church with me one morning. he said i am an atheist. i said you can be anything you want to be. so he did. he went to church. when he came out, he said i am an atheist. again, i told him, you can be

anything you want to be. the first battle we got into in africa, the tanks were coming down and they were shelling us. they told us to begin on the hill up there. keith is out there digging in on the hill. he said god, help me, god, help me. [laughter] after it was all over, i said, are you still an atheist? he said yes. i said, how come you are asking god to help you up there? >> he said, there wasn't anybody else to asked to help me. you hear these things, and i actually see them have been in combat. people really talking to their fate automatically, even though they thought they have given it

up. it is a hard thing to give up. and actually, what are we fighting for? we are fighting for our freedom. freedom of anybody's religion. if they want to be freed with it, they ought to believe. [applause] >> i would like to make one comment to him. that is not a decision you can change to mark critz once you make it, you go on for life. cannot change your decisions next week or the week after. >> i would just add a little vignette, when walter is talking about would you do it over again. there is another medal of honor recipient named webster anderson, a great powerful

soldier. he was in vietnam one night in the were overrun by the communist. the first wave took off both of his legs. he still fought on. the next attack, they threw a hand grenade into his position. webster, a hand grenade and when he was throwing it away, took off his arm. they were in the middle of a tropical storm, and i managed to get in and get webster and his wounded guys and get them to the hospital, where the save his life, but he lost both legs and he lost an arm. webster and i became very close. he thought i had saved his life. we would go and talk to students like this around the country. it would not sit. we had to prop him up. he had to fake legs and a fake arm and he had a cane on. we brought him up and kids would ask questions.

they called him mr. serjeant webster anderson. if you had to do over again, knowing what you know now, two legs and one arm, would you do it again? webster looked at him and said kidd, i only got one arm left, but my country can have it any time they want. to me, that was the definition of a true patriot. webster anderson, a great black soldier. [applause] >> leroy keith tree is in fort washington right now. ask him that question -- leroy petrie. ask him if he would do it again, and he said i would do it again next time left-handed. good attitude. >> the question that comes from

online, students have been submitting these are the last couple of weeks. what helps you to be strong, think clearly, and not to give up? in the situations you were in in battle, is there anything in your past or your training -- what was the that really helps you in that moment of intensity and danger that really helps you rise to the occasion? >> did you hear the question? >> i think it was training. in my case, i could never go home and embarrass my brothers. that was the big thing. i am going to go back to the love of troops. i really do. when you lead them into combat, and pat covered this, you better know what the hell you are doing. you better be carrying any better be smart. the art of anticipation is a lost art, and american society

today. learn how to anticipate. that was another key my brothers gave me. >> what inspired me to do what i did is that i had a lot of training in the military service. i was the leader with a lot and had not had any combat training before, went into normandy, and when we got into this situation in the hedgerows, we knocked out three machine-gun nests and then we knocked out a mortar position. the next day, i was the leader of my squad, and i knew it number-one thing was, i could smell the germans. had a platoon leader who had

just come over from fort benning georgia. he was a lieutenant. he tell me to go out and go into this town. my platoon leader tell me to take the squad out, and i started to lead the squad. he said sgt, we don't do it that way. he said, you send out two of your scouts, and i am going to follow them, and then you bring the squad behind them. i said, that is not the right way to do it. my squad was not that well trained. i said well, that is why i do it. he said, this is a direct order.

so they go out in germany. they got pinned down by at tank sitting in a little town out there across an alley. they saw these guys coming across the field so they started firing on them. they got into a hole in could not get out. so i got a bazooka and ended at the tank. hit the tank and some soft spot. i knew where to shoot at. he had never shot the bazooka before. so that was his first shot and it hit that soft spot and the germans came out of that tank like flies. pretty soon we went over and captured the tank.

we captured the tank and then i came back and said lieutenant, it is ok to come out now. and he did, and he apologized to me. he said i will never tell you how to run your squad again. [applause] >> the one thing that i learned in the military, and you learn this in life, too. we are not all born equal. we are just not. you look around you and you see people bigger, faster, smarter, stronger, they have better here than you have. -- better hair. we are simply not all born equal. but there is one way, and i think this is the key to success in life and what we try to teach

in our program, that we are all born equal. that is in terms of courage. each of us can have all the courage you want. you cannot use it up. it is the key to success in life. it produces great success from those among us who were not given credibility and did not have great opportunities in their life. to me, courage was a very important thing. where does it come from? what allows you to use courage on the battlefield or anywhere else? the answer is simply fade. i have never seen anything else to explain what people do in combat or in the classroom or anywhere else. i believe there is something to work dying for, something worth somewhere above and beyond the person that you are that is more important than that particular moment.

i can explain my faith. i would not do it for anyone else, but fate is the foundation of courage. courage is the key to success in life. i have said this before, and i have been almost get a bunch of times, but i was never afraid. they was a substitute for fear. it gave me -- face was a substitute for fear. allow me to do things that otherwise would not have been possible. faith is the source of everything and anything that i ever did in combat. [applause] >> pat is right. as i said earlier, believe in god or your supreme being or whoever you believe in. he is right. i don't think a day goes by

without communicating with the big guy to watch over me. i even asked him to help me on the golf course, but he has been letting me down. [laughter] >> jay had his family that he was afraid of. the marines gave him courage for that. one of the things i got asked the most was, didn't you have fear? i did have fear, but it was fear of making a bad decision that calls a blind man to die or some of the men not -- that caused one of my men to die or some of the men i was supporting. i was more afraid of making a bad decision. that is more important when you are doing those things, in my judgment.

we should have fear you are going to cause a problem for your troops. >> i have two bullets i fail to pass on to you. if you fall or you fail, it is not the end of the world. i was over in new mexico talking to some of the students. some of them had blown an algebra class. there's just no way that they could get through it, and they were ready to quit school. don't ever quit. get into some other general map or something. we are not all scientists. i was not worth a darn in math. when i started taking calculus and geometry, i said that's it. i've got to go into another field. but don't ever be afraid, if you fall down and failed, get back

up. don't be afraid, as pat put it very well, lean on your face. get back on your feet and keep going forward -- lien on your faith. if you make a mistake, admit. if you truly know that you made a mistake, don't ever hesitate to say i made a mistake. allied just get you deeper -- a lie just did you deeper into your inner soul [applause] . >> it pains me to do this, because i think that given the opportunity, we could see here for hours upon hours. but we are out of time. so here is what we are going to do.

i know that part of the program, the malick honor, is bringing recipients into classrooms viaskype or may be asking questions. those of you still have questions, have your teachers get in contact with me. we will get those questions answered. i don't want you to leave here feeling we have had a question has been unanswered. i apologize tremendously. i would also like to ask, at the beginning of the talk today, colonel vargas was mention the keys that he was given. in closing, i would ask that each of our panelists give us one key, giving your experience, your help -- carroll wisdom and courage, if you had just one key to pass on to our audience today as a final word, what would that be? >> you heard me say earlier,

believe in yourself and be yourself. it is very important to be yourself. i have seen great students trying to guess like those guys whose pants are nearly falling off. the yourself and believe in yourself. always believe in yourself. that is my advice. >> if i did not have faith, i would not have been able to do what i did. i left it in god's hands. i figured that i had to do this because it had to be done. i had no control over when i was going to die or anything like this. i was fighting to live. so i never worried about dying, but i was really scared all the time. i was fighting to live. i was not fighting to die.

and i put my faith in god, and somehow it worked, and i am still here today. and i still have my faith in god and in my children and in my grandchildren. i think they should know that the great courage in the best thing you can do in your lifetime is to have faith. i did not set out to be a hero or anything. i had no idea was ever going to get a medal of honor. i read about in the stars and stripes. that is how i found out i was getting a medal of honor. i said i was reporting back to duty. he said you were supposed to be back in the state's coming getting the medal of honor from the president. i said yes, i read about it in the stars and stripes. that is how i found out about it.

it is a great thing to have faith. >> it takes my friend a while to get his thoughts together, so i will go before him. the thing i would leave with all of you, and i want you to go to the program. faith, sacrifice, love in action. the key to happiness in life, and a hero cannot separate business from heroes. celebrities are not heroes. look around you and realize how blessed you are to be an american, how extraordinary it is. the other thing i would ask you

to do, and we are all part of this. america has no kings, no queens, no dukes and duchesses and all that stuff. but we do have a nobility in america. america's and ability is called veterans. those of us who are part of america's nobility are required to pass on to the younger people, in terms of being a bad example, a way around the obstacles that we faced in life. i was on the golf course with my friend at the other day and he brought out a tape major that measures how close you are to the tent -- brought out a tape measure. he said here is your life span, and here is where you are. so here is your life span, and you guys are right here. it's not as well be further ahead when you get to where i am

then you are today. be further ahead when you get here than you were when you were right here. that is the thing we try to do for this program that we have. we are living our lives over again through you, and trying to keep you from making the same stupid mistakes that we made as we struggled through our lives. you are so blessed to be an american, and that is very important. [applause] >> he referred to me as his son gary usually he says illegitimate son. the one thing i would tell each of you, if i was to only give you one thing, is to have self- respect. respect yourself, and you will

respect others. when you look in the mirror in the morning, be happy with what you see. it cannot change it much, but in our country we have lost a lot of civility, and i would like to see that come back. self-respect is the key to that, i think. those of you that are in school now, i would encourage all of you to go out and seek your education, no matter how long it takes. keep going to school. [applause] >> i have one last thing to say to you. you all live in the greatest country ever. this country has freed more people since world war ii than any of all the other nations combined.

this is an actual fact. you can look it up in the history books and you can find out that countries that we fought against or liberated became democracies. germany is a democracy. france is a democracy. italy is a democracy, freedom from fascism. japan is a democracy with freedom from imperialism. the biggest responsibility for their freedoms has been the united states of america. you can be so proud of your country. we hope you will continue to be proud of it because you will do the same things that we did. [applause] >> although most of us in the

audience will never be an exact science dirk dick circumstances that our panelists were, there will be challenging moments in your life, maybe even terrifying moments and things like your courage and integrity and commitment to your community are going to be tested. i want to say thank you to our panelists today for giving us a great example of how we should respond [applause] . -- of how we should respond. [applause] i am going to ask that our students remain seated. and she will come up ansm