to " c.s. lewis, coverage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue of the testing point, something these officers were tested with. to our command staff, ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the recipients of the silver medal of valor, sergeant scott ryan, and officer reuben reyes. [applause] offic>> we are at the part of te ceremony now where we will present the gold medal of valor, the highest award given from the sentences go police department. tonight we have six, an unprecedented number. i would like captain ann mannix, and officer minkel, everson, griffin and tursi. >> can we do this separately? there are two separate incidents. but go in your order. -- >> let's go in your order. >> tonight it is my honor to present to you the heroic acts of officer joseph everson and officer minkel. wednesday, october 13, 2011, there were patrolling together as the violent reduction unit they have been assigned in uniform and driving a large unit. they were driving along pulled street w

to " c.s. lewis, coverage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue of the testing point, something these officers were tested with. to our command staff, ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the recipients of the silver medal of valor, sergeant scott ryan, and officer reuben reyes. [applause] offic

some room that they're not part of and i connect that to this amazing speech that c.s. lewis gave in one thousand nine hundred five called the inner ring and he talks about the seductiveness of wanting to be on the inside of the inner ring of walking into a room when two people are having a conversation and they hushed and they stop talking as soon as you walk in he says if you ever experience that you've experienced the pull of the inner ring of wanting to be on the inside of it and he says that will in your life be the source of most of the corruption that happens to you and the meritocracy in the current structure of the elite are nothing if not a series of perpetual earrings and you talk about. bishop tutu talked about the apartheid and you write about how apartheid not only corrupted the average person in south africa it ultimately destroyed or badly corrupted anyway the elites how is that happening in america. yeah the did this time glad you're is that to quote because i think it's such a profound moral observation about systems of oppression systems of hierarchy system

the author c.s. lewise inconsolable secret meaning the yearning of desire to bridge a gulf that exists between us that are ordinary earthly existence and this other world,his remarkable world unfolding before us as we watch the people achieve the incredible things, and the inconsolable secret is that we can't bridge the gulf. that is part of the tragedy of the human condition. >> was there an olympian or olympic moment for you this year that inspired you and probably inspired others? >> well, there were a lot. but one that comes to mind is m mantao mitchell who is 400 meters into the run, a nd he realizes he has broken his leg and soldiers on for the sake of his teammates and soldiers on and finishes the race, and he says i was just doing my job. it is that kind of guts and perseverance for a greater good, and not just for personal glory that really gets our attention, i think. >> joseph laconti, thank you so much for inspiring all of us this morning. appreciate that. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. >> f

c.s. lewiser works that one of the things that western civilization has been degrading in is the idea of courage. i think with the country needsneed courage in our leaders and obedient -- needs courage in their leaders and the need leadership. we did not have the courage like roosevelt. we do not have a man like kennedy, someone who can animate the people. i thought four years ago was barack obama. it sounded like it, but once it got into office, i found out he was anything but a leader. leaders just do not do that. for my professional experience, i remember working for fedex and fred smith had those intangibles of a leader or people would get behind him and say, fred, we're behind you. behind you. whatever it takes to