    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [July 8, 2002]
    [Pages 1182-1184]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Medal of Honor Posthumously to
    Captain Humbert Versace
    July 8, 2002

        Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House. It's a--this is a
    special occasion. I am honored to be a part of the gathering as we pay
    tribute to a true American patriot and a hero, Captain Humbert ``Rocky''
    Versace.
        Nearly four decades ago, his courage and defiance while being held
    captive in Vietnam cost him his life. Today it is my great privilege to
    recognize his extraordinary sacrifices by awarding him the Medal of
    Honor.
        I appreciate Secretary Anthony Principi, the Secretary from the Department of Veteran Affairs, for
    being here. Thank you for coming, Tony. I appreciate Senator George
    Allen and Congressman Jim Moran. I want to thank Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and General Pete
    Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Army

    [[Page 1183]]

    General Eric Shinseki--thank you for
    coming, sir. I appreciate David Hicks being
    here. He's the Deputy Chief of Chaplains for the United States Army.
        I want to thank the entire Versace family for coming, three brothers
    and a lot of relatives, brothers, Dick and
    Mike and Steve, who's
    up here on the stage with me today. I appreciate the classmates and
    friends and supporters of Rocky for coming. I also want to thank the
    previous Medal of Honor recipients who are here with us today. That
    would be Harvey Barnum and
    Brian Thacker and Roger Donlon. Thank you all for coming.
        Rocky grew up in this area and attended Gonzaga College High School,
    right here in Washington, DC. One of his fellow soldiers recalled that
    Rocky was the kind of person you only had to know a few weeks before you
    felt like you'd known him for years. Serving as an intelligence adviser
    in the Mekong Delta, he quickly befriended many of the local citizens.
    He had that kind of personality. During his time there he was accepted
    into the seminary, with an eye toward eventually returning to Vietnam to
    be able to work with orphans.
        Rocky was also a soldier's soldier, a West Point graduate, a Green
    Beret who lived and breathed the code of duty and honor and country. One
    of Rocky's superiors said that the term ``gung ho'' fit him perfectly.
    Others remember his strong sense of moral purpose and unbending belief
    in his principles.
        As his brother Steve once recalled, ``If
    he thought he was right, he was a pain in the neck.'' [Laughter] ``If he
    knew he was right, he was absolutely atrocious.'' [Laughter]
        When Rocky completed his 1-year tour of duty, he volunteered for
    another tour. And 2 weeks before his time was up, on October the 29th,
    1963, he set out with several companies of South Vietnamese troops,
    planning to take out a Viet Cong command post. It was a daring mission
    and an unusually dangerous one for someone so close to going home to
    volunteer for.
        After some initial successes, a vastly larger Viet Cong force
    ambushed and overran Rocky's unit. Under siege and suffering from
    multiple bullet wounds, Rocky kept providing covering fire so that
    friendly forces could withdraw from the killing zone.
        Eventually, he and two other Americans, Lieutenant Nick Rowe and
    Sergeant Dan Pitzer, were captured, bound, and forced to walk barefoot
    to a prison camp deep within the jungle. For much of the next 2 years,
    their home would be bamboo cages, 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 3 feet
    high. They were given little to eat and little protection against the
    elements. On nights when their netting was taken away, so many
    mosquitoes would swarm their shackled feet it looked like they were
    wearing black socks.
        The point was not merely to physically torture the prisoners but
    also to persuade them to confess to phony crimes and use their
    confessions for propaganda. But Rocky's captors clearly had no idea who
    they were dealing with. Four times he tried to escape, the first time
    crawling on his stomach because his leg injuries prevented him from
    walking. He insisted on giving no more information than required by the
    Geneva Convention and cited the treaty, chapter and verse, over and over
    again.
        He was fluent in English, French, and Vietnamese and would tell his
    guards to go to hell in all three. Eventually the Viet Cong stopped
    using French and Vietnamese in their indoctrination sessions, because
    they didn't want the sentries or the villagers to listen to Rocky's
    effective rebuttals to their propaganda. Rocky knew precisely what he
    was doing. By focusing his captors' anger on him; he made life a measure
    more tolerable for his fellow prisoners, who looked to him as a role
    model of principled resistance.
        Eventually the Viet Cong separated Rocky from the other prisoners.
    Yet even

    [[Page 1184]]

    in separation, he continued to inspire them. The last time they heard
    his voice, he was singing ``God Bless America'' at the top of his lungs.
        On September the 26th, 1965, Rocky's struggle ended with his
    execution. In his too short life, he traveled to a distant land to bring
    the hope of freedom to the people he never met. In his defiance and
    later his death, he set an example of extraordinary dedication that
    changed the lives of his fellow soldiers who saw it firsthand. His story
    echoes across the years, reminding us of liberty's high price and of the
    noble passion that caused one good man to pay that price in full.
        Last Tuesday would have been Rocky's 65th birthday. So today we
    award Rocky--Rocky Versace the first Medal of Honor given to an Army POW
    for actions taken during captivity in Southeast Asia. We thank his
    family for so great a sacrifice. And we commit our country to always
    remember what Rocky gave to his fellow prisoners, to the people of
    Vietnam, and to the cause of freedom.
        Now, Major, please read the citation.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:07 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. Following the President's remarks, Maj. Paul Montanus, USMC,
    Marine Corps Aide to the President, read the citation.