[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 1995)]
[Pages 2186-2187]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Citizens Medals

December 15, 1995

    The President. Good afternoon. Congressman Davis, Secretary Perry, 
General Shalikashvili, Deputy Secretary Talbott, distinguished friends: 
Let me say it is a great honor to welcome the Frasure family, the Kruzel 
family, the Drew family here today.
    Yesterday in Paris I watched the Presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and 
Serbia sign an agreement that turns their troubled region from war to 
peace. Then on behalf of our Nation, I witnessed the agreement.
    I witnessed it also in a more personal sense on behalf of three 
great Americans who could not be there: Bob Frasure, Joe Kruzel, and 
Nelson Drew. For without their efforts there would have been no 
agreement in Dayton, and no signing in Paris. The shells would still be 
falling in Sarajevo.
    When Bob, Joe, and Nelson died on Mount Igman on August the 19th, 
they were serving in the greatest of all missions, working for peace and 
freedom. How I wish they could know that their efforts were destined to 
be crowned with success. I think they do.
    They knew their mission was dangerous. They talked about the risks 
the night before they set out for Sarajevo. Just a few days earlier they 
had tried to get in by helicopter, but were forced back by bad weather. 
But because of who they were, they never hesitated, and the next morning 
they set out again.
    To the family and friends of these three good and brave men, let me 
say again, as I have said before, we will never forget them. Their 
sacrifice reminds us of the tragedy they sought to relieve and 
reinforces the urgency of the search for a solution. They worked 
together as a team, but each had unique strengths.
    Bob Frasure was a career diplomat who found the most difficult 
assignments, or perhaps it would be better to say they found him. From 
Angola to Ethiopia, to Estonia, and of course, to Bosnia, he helped to 
write some of the most dramatic chapters in the history of modern 
American foreign policy, yet he never sought the limelight for himself. 
As Secretary Christopher has said, he was a man of great accomplishment 
but little visible ego. His ingenuity and skill were matched by 
exceptional wit. His telegrams were so well written and compelling that 
they instantly became the talk of the State Department. His warmth 
touched countless colleagues and his judgment and resourcefulness 
countless lives.
    Joe Kruzel was also a man with an apparently endless sense of humor. 
Over a three-decade career of service to our Nation, he retained also 
his idealism about our goals, while leavening it with a healthy dose of 
realism about the foibles of any large bureaucratic effort.
    One of his colleagues remarked that while others were focused on 
day-to-day events, Joe's eyes were always on the horizon. He saw that an 
undivided democratic Europe was within reach, and he led the Pentagon's 
efforts in reaching out to the East to make that dream a reality. All of 
us, including myself and Bill Perry, valued his sage and firm advice. He 
did not mince words, and we all listened.
    Nelson Drew, who served on my own staff, was a rare combination of 
remarkable soldier, respected scholar, profound strategic thinker, and a 
fine human being: born to a military family, achieving an exceptional 
military career, but he made peace his calling. I remember meeting him 
for the very first time in my office this past July just after I had 
finished a call with Prime Minister Major. I

[[Page 2187]]

asked those in the room a question about Bosnia, and Nelson stepped 
forward to answer it with his usual succinct and clear wisdom. He was 
always ready to step forward for peace in Bosnia.
    Bob, Joe, and Nelson devoted their lives and they gave their lives 
to achieve that goal. Now, we must follow the example they set to make 
sure this peace takes hold. Nothing we can say or do can bring our 
friends back again. But by striving to seal the peace in Bosnia for 
good, we can shape a future worthy of their noble sacrifice.
    We honor their memory today and forever with the President's 
Citizens Medal.
    Commander, post the orders.

[At this point, Lt. Comdr. John M. Richardson, USN, Naval Aide to the 
President, read the citations, and the President presented the awards.]

    The President. Let me just say in closing that all Americans, 
whether or not they knew Bob, Joe, and Nelson, have been touched by 
their service to our country. Yesterday I saw it myself in Paris and 
just last month in my trip to the United Kingdom, to Ireland, to Germany 
and Spain. From people on the streets to Presidents and Prime Ministers, 
the world is looking for our leadership for peace because they know 
America can be trusted.
    The world places that faith in our Nation because of the work of 
individual American citizens like Bob and Joe and Nelson. They embodied 
the spirit of service that sets our Nation apart. They stood for 
something larger than themselves. Like so many of their colleagues, they 
accepted hardship and the risks that go along with the job they 
embraced.
    Often they were rewarded for their efforts only by more difficult 
assignments, for our country needs its best people precisely where the 
challenges are greatest. They answered that call to duty with courage 
and conviction and grace. They understood that our leadership requires 
our involvement and our commitment, not from the sidelines but on the 
ground at the heart of events.
    These three exemplify the qualities that make our country strong: a 
faith that one person can touch the lives of many, a willingness to work 
hard for something they believed in, a generous heart and spirit. Their 
wonderful families that you have applauded so warmly today are perhaps 
the best and finest testament to the lives that they lived.
    Without pause or complaint, they took it upon themselves to bring 
the gift of peace and freedom to others around the world, not for 
personal ambition but solely because it was the right thing to do.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, ``Let him be great, and love shall 
follow him.'' Looking at the faces of Katharina Frasure and Sarah and 
Virginia, Gail Kruzel and John and Sarah, Sandy Drew and Samantha and 
Philip and all the other family members here, we can say that love has 
truly followed these three great Americans we have honored.
    May God bless and protect their memories, their families, and the 
country they gave everything to serve.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 3:24 p.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive 
Office Building. The medal was awarded posthumously to Nelson Drew, 
Joseph Kruzel, and Robert Frasure, American diplomats who died in Bosnia 
on August 19, 1995.