    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [September 25, 1997]
    [Pages 1237-1238]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1237]]

    Remarks at a Reception for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society in
    Little Rock
    September 25, 1997

        Thank you very much, Secretary Gober, President Bucha, Mayor Dailey,
    Mayor Hays, Senator Beebe. Governor McMath, it's wonderful to see you
    here tonight, sir.
        I thank Secretary Gober for his introduction. It was overly generous
    but a good illustration of Clinton's first law of politics: Whenever
    possible, try to have yourself introduced by someone you have appointed
    to high office. [Laughter] Did you hear the story Secretary Gober said
    about he was in the Army, then he was in the Marine Corps, and his wife
    was in the Navy and then the Air Force. They're the only people I ever
    knew who organized a 30-year campaign to be Secretary of Veterans
    Affairs. [Laughter] It worked. He has done a wonderful job.
        And thank you, Secretary Togo West, for the job you do for the
    United States Army, sir. I'd also like to thank the United States
    Military Academy Cadet Glee Club. I thought they did a terrific job. Go
    ahead and give them a hand. [Applause] And I think we can forgive them
    if there was just a little more zip in the Army song than the others.
    [Laughter] That, after all, is befitting.
        Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to be here with you. I thank you
    for coming to my native State. I hope you have enjoyed it. I'm
    especially honored to be in the presence of people who are in what has
    been described as the most exclusive club in America, the Congressional
    Medal of Honor Society. Along with every other American, I feel a
    profound admiration for all of you for your acts of valor and heroism. I
    am especially gratified that several who wear the medal and who are in
    this room tonight are my fellow Arkansans, including Nick Bacon,
    director of veterans affairs here; Scooter Burke; Clarence Kraft; and
    Nathan Gordon.
        No one could live in this country for very long without being
    especially impressed with how genuinely patriotic most of our fellow
    citizens are. We are a nation of immigrants, proud of our roots, proud
    of what is distinctive about us, but there's an extraordinary amount of
    love in this country for our Nation, felt by almost every single
    citizen.
        Indeed, there's so much love in our country that, as you know, we
    very often have people join the United States military even before
    they're naturalized as citizens. I never will forget, when we welcomed
    the Pope to Denver for the first time and I was escorting His Holiness
    down the line of all the well-wishers there at Regis University, we got
    to a young man in a United States Army uniform, and he broke into this
    elaborate conversation with the Pope in Polish. And I thought to myself,
    we could have had a Haitian-American speaking to the Pope in Creole; we
    could have spoken to the Pope in Spanish and Chinese and Japanese and
    any number of languages in the world. This is the only country in the
    world where you can say that. When we turned back the dictators and
    restored the duly elected leaders in Haiti, America was the only country
    in the world where we were able to send 200 United States citizen
    soldiers to Haiti who spoke the native language, Creole. But we are
    united by this almost mystical love of our country and its history and
    what it means.
        Nonetheless, we know that in every generation there will be a few
    who stand out, who are called upon to do things of such selfless heroism
    that their patriotism shines above all the others.
        Twice since I have been President, I have bestowed the Medal of
    Honor. First, very sadly, to Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant
    First Class Randall Shughart posthumously, two men who bravely lost
    their lives in Somalia trying to save the lives of their fellow
    soldiers. Then, this year, because so much time had passed, a much
    happier occasion: Fifty years after the fact, we recognized seven
    African-American heroes of World War II who were prepared to sacrifice
    everything for our freedom, even though they didn't have full freedom
    when they came back home. That was a wonderful day.
        One painful, one wonderful, I will never forget either one, because
    both of them were examples of the truly extraordinary heroism which all
    of you who wear this medal have demonstrated in your service. When the
    battle was

    [[Page 1238]]

    darkest, when the fortunes of war often favored an unforgiving enemy,
    somehow those of you who won the Medal of Honor and who earned the Medal
    of Honor found the strength, the will to fight more valiantly and turn
    the tide, to save the lives of your comrades, to save the day for
    America.
        Your president spoke a moment ago about the event we commemorated at
    Little Rock Central High School. Forty years ago, something happened
    here that none of us who are native to this State are especially proud
    of. Our former Governor, Governor McMath, who also was a major general
    in the Marine Corps, tried to stop it. And I'll always be grateful to
    him. But in the end, those children were not denied admission to our
    high school, because the law of the land said we were all created equal.
    A Federal court issued an order to carry out the law, and the President
    of the United States and the Attorney General of the United States and
    the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army did exactly that,
    and they stood up for the Constitution. They were heroes in that day, as
    well.
        And somehow I think it's fitting that you are here on this day, and
    we can celebrate your heroism, and you can participate in a moment of
    unique citizen heroism in the history of America. Think what it was like
    for those nine kids to show up and face a jeering mob, armed only with
    their notebooks and their schoolbooks. Think what it was like for their
    parents to send them into the storm not knowing whether they would come
    home.
        But if you look at the whole history of America, and if you look at
    the whole history of our military services, we see an unbroken chain in
    the continuing struggle to make our historic commitment to freedom and
    equality more real in each succeeding generation.
        Every American knows about our military's vital role in protecting
    our national interest and our values around the world. But the Armed
    Forces also has reflected and protected our values here at home. Our
    military promotes equality by rewarding merit without regard to race or
    gender and sets an example for every American and for every American
    institution where two or more people work together.
        And as I said, you cannot talk to any person who was alive and well
    in Little Rock 40 years ago who doesn't remember that it was the Army
    paratroopers who ultimately stood as a bulwark of protection for those
    nine little children, who were there for them because their President
    ordered them to stand up for the law of the land here at home.
        So I hope that you will always remember, throughout all your
    conventions and all your meetings, that you happened to come to Little
    Rock on a special day for America and a special day for America's
    military, a special example of personal patriotism and bravery by
    civilians, and that all of us--all of us--are profoundly grateful that
    you're here, for your valor and your sacrifice, for being there when
    your country needed you the most.
        Thank you for what you have done, and thank you, too, for what you
    continue to do as living examples of everything we love most about
    America.
        God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:44 p.m. at the Aerospace Education
    Center. In his remarks, he referred to Paul Bucha, president,
    Congressional Medal of Honor Society; Mayor Jim Dailey of Little Rock;
    Mayor Patrick Henry Hays of North Little Rock; State Senator Mike Beebe;
    former Arkansas Governor Sid McMath; and Mary Lou Keener, wife of
    Secretary of Veterans Affairs Hershel Gober.