[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 26 (Monday, July 3, 2000)]
[Pages 1537-1540]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a World War II Memorial Reception

June 29, 2000

     The President. Good morning, and welcome to the White House. I want 
to acknowledge especially Secretary Cohen, Secretary West, General 
Shelton. Chairman Gilman and Senator Lautenberg were here, and they had 
to go back to work. But I know we appreciate their being here, and their 
going back to work. [Laughter] I want to welcome all of the 
distinguished veterans who are here, especially, and thank General 
Herrling, particularly. And I'll introduce Senator Dole and Mr. Smith in 
a moment.
    I am very enthusiastic about this project, and I want to thank all 
of you who have already helped, including the school children who are 
here and all of you who will help.
    One of the great pleasures of being President on warm nights and on 
the weekends is being able to sit out on the balcony that was built 
during President Truman's tenure here, and you can look out on The Mall 
and see the whole history of America, from the Revolutionary War, 
commemorated in the Washington Monument, to the Civil War and

[[Page 1538]]

Abraham Lincoln. Now there are monuments to World War I, Korea, and 
Vietnam. We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Korean war. They 
teach us a lot about our national history and our national character.
    You also can see on The Mall the scientific genius of America in the 
Air and Space Museum, our Nation's heritage in the American Natural 
History Museum. You can see art in the National Gallery and the 
Hirshhorn. And I can see the Capitol, even on the days where I think 
they don't hear me down there. [Laughter]
    And yet, the event that speaks most to the courage and character of 
America is World War II. It defined the 20th century. And until it has a 
place on our National Mall, the story of America that is told there will 
be woefully incomplete. This, therefore, in a real sense, is the last 
campaign of World War II.
    Roger Durbin, who began it more than a decade ago, understands--
understood that it's not just about the child that walks The Mall today 
whose grandfather served in the war. It is, in a larger sense, about the 
child who walks The Mall in a hundred years, tugging on his or her 
grandfather's sleeve, asking questions about the monument. That is the 
special quality of those monuments. It's how we learn from our past. And 
so there must be a monument so that a hundred years from now those 
questions will be asked.
    Roger Durbin knew that, and I want to thank his granddaughter, 
Melissa Growden, for being here with us today.
    Four and a half years ago we came together on The Mall to sprinkle 
soil from America's overseas cemetery, to begin a drive to get this 
memorial built. I believe today, as I did then, that the site we 
dedicated is still perfect for the memorial. The distance traveled since 
is, in itself, a story of national resolve. And there are many people 
who deserve our gratitude, but I want to recognize just a few this 
morning.
    First, I want to thank General Fred Woerner and Major General John 
Herrling for the terrific job they're doing at the American Battlefields 
Monuments Commission. It oversees 24 American military cemeteries and 27 
memorials in 15 nations around the world. And I know they are anxious to 
add the World War II memorial to that list.
    When this drive began, we were certain that one person we could 
count on was Fred Smith, the chairman of Fed-Ex and cochair of this 
memorial drive. This isn't the first time he's answered our country's 
call. He served two tours in Vietnam, and his father and three uncles 
all served in World War II. And I have known him for many, many years 
now, because we're from the same neck of the woods. Fred, I wasn't 
surprised you agreed to do this, but I was and remain very grateful. And 
on behalf of all the American people, we thank you for your service to 
the country.
    Last week I had the privilege of presenting the Congressional Medal 
of Honor to Senator Dan Inouye and 21 other Asian-Americans who served 
with distinction in World War II. It was an amazing moment. I'm pleased 
that one of those--Senator Inouye's fellow Medal of Honor recipient Nick 
Oresko could join us today, as well as the president of the National 
Medal of Honor Society, Colonel Barney Barnum.
    I also want to welcome all the veterans of World War II who are 
here. And I want to acknowledge the veterans from Congress--as I said, 
Senator Lautenberg and Congressman Gilman had to go back to work--
Congressman Hall, Congressman Hyde, Congressman Regula, Congressman 
Sisisky, all veterans. And then the former Republican leader of the 
House, Congressman Bob Michel, is still here today, and I want to 
welcome him and thank him. And Senator Harry Byrd, it's nice to see you, 
sir.
    And I'd like to say a special word of thanks to Congresswoman Marcy 
Kaptur, who first recognized the vision of her constituent, Roger 
Durbin, and introduced the legislation to establish the memorial. I 
think they're voting on Capitol Hill, and she's not able to come. And 
Senator Sasser, we're glad you're here today, too, and we thank you.
    I'd like to thank two people who aren't here, who have been a great 
deal of help, Tom Brokaw and Tom Hanks, who worked to bring attention to 
this cause. And their ability to do so, as you know, grows out of one's 
book and the other's movie, both of

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which were, I think, very important to increasing the understanding of 
Americans about the character and courage of those who fought in World 
War II.
    More than 1,900 World War II veterans and their colleagues at Wal-
Mart have undertaken a special effort, and I thank them. I understand 
they're represented here today by veteran Jean DeVault. I want to 
recognize the men and women, thousands of them, who formed community 
action councils across the country, represented here today by Viola Lyon 
and Linda Johnson, from the Quad Cities; Christine Dialectos, from 
Reading, Pennsylvania; and Deb Ellis, from Littleton, Colorado.
    And finally, I want to say a special thanks to 11-year-old Zane 
Fayos from Fayetteville, New York. Last April, he was 10 then, Zane saw 
Tom Hanks in an ad for the memorial and decided to get involved. He 
wrote a letter that said he was very interested in World War II, that he 
was reading books about Normandy and D-day, that his mother said he 
could go see ``Saving Private Ryan'' when he finished his books, and 
that he had managed to save $195 in 10 short years, and he wanted to 
donate the entire amount to building the memorial. If he is 
representative of the young people of America, I'd say we're in pretty 
good hands. I'd like to ask him to stand today. Zane, stand up. 
[Applause] Bless you, young man. Thank you.
    Now, Zane gave everything he had for the memorial. And I know this 
violates some law the Counsel's office gave me, but we still need a 
little more money. [Laughter] So somebody else is going to have to give, 
not everything they have but a little more, until we get right over the 
top. And I'm going to help, and any of you in this room who can give us 
a little more, I'll be grateful to, as well.
    I'd like to now introduce someone who has given everything he had 
for our country, Senator Bob Dole. All of you know that his service in 
World War II was enough for three lifetimes, and then he gave us the 
next 50 years, as well.
    In 1997 he agreed to lead this campaign, and that was a great 
blessing for the cause and for the country. Whenever I see Senator Dole 
and we share a joke or a story or a common cause or sometimes a common 
disagreement, I understand why his generation of Americans has been 
called the greatest generation.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Senator Dole.

 [At this point, former Senator Bob Dole, national chairman, and 
Frederick W. Smith, cochairman, World War II Memorial Campaign, made 
brief remarks.]

     The President. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes this 
formal meeting. I've been listening to Senator Dole and to Fred. I just 
want to say two or three things.
    On the way in, they were playing ``Hail to the Chief,'' and I leaned 
over to Bob Dole, and I said, ``You know, when we get out of here, I'd 
like to make commercials with you. I'll be your straight man.'' 
[Laughter] It's the only commercial venture I've discussed the whole 
time I've been President. [Laughter]
    We tried to divide it up so that one of the three of us would 
mention everybody, but I do want to say again how grateful I am to all 
of you for being here, especially my friend of nearly 30 years Jess and 
Betty Jo Hay. And thank you, Ed. And I thank the Wal-Mart people and all 
the companies--the Hank Greenberg Company--all of them that have given.
    Senator Dole said one thing. I don't believe I've ever told this 
story in public, but I'm going to do this. I want you to know why this 
is so important to me. Senator Dole said one thing that I think is 
really true. He said, ``What would the world be like today if we had not 
fought and prevailed in World War II?'' And there are lots of obvious 
big, geopolitical things you could say. But Senator Dole and Senator 
Inouye served in Italy, so I want to leave you with this story.
    When we were getting ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 
D-day invasion and then the end of the war--and there was a ceremony in 
Italy, too--I got hundreds of letters. So one day I get this letter from 
this guy in New Jersey, with an Italian surname. And he says, ``Dear Mr. 
President,'' he said, ``During World War II, I was an 8-year-old boy 
living with my mother. And we were starving to death, practically, and 
we didn't know what was going to happen to us. And the American soldiers 
came.'' And, he said,

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``I was fascinated by automobiles, so I used to sneak down to the motor 
pool, where I met an American who taught me all about engines.'' And he 
said, ``He also gave me chocolate. Then I would take him home, and my 
mother would make him pasta.'' And he said, ``I decided that I wanted to 
go to America,'' and he said, ``as soon as I was old enough, I came to 
America, and I opened my own garage. I met a wonderful woman. I had a 
great family. I raised two children. They both have college educations, 
all because I met an American soldier in a motor pool. I never knew what 
happened to the soldier until I read in our local paper a story about 
your father's experience in World War II, and there was a picture of 
your father, and I knew that was the man who had helped me. I think he 
would be very proud of me today.''
    The consequences of what was done by the World War II generation are 
being felt today, in ways big and small. A country is known by what it 
remembers. This is a noble endeavor. A hundred million dollars sounds 
like a lot of money. It's peanuts. I meant to ask Secretary Cohen before 
I came up here, but if we had to fight World War II today, it would cost 
several trillion dollars--$100 million is nothing. We ought to come up 
with the rest of the money, a little more if we need it, and do it 
right. And never forget.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 9:55 a.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Maj. Gen. John P. Herrling, USA 
(Ret.), secretary, and Gen. Fred F. Woerner, USA (Ret.), chairman, 
American Battle Monuments Commission; Melissa A. Growden and Jess Hay, 
members, World War II Memorial Advisory Board; Mr. Hay's wife, Betty Jo; 
former Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr.; former Senator James R. Sasser, U.S. 
Ambassador to China; NBC News anchorman and author Tom Brokaw; and actor 
Tom Hanks. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
also included the remarks of former Senator Dole and Mr. Smith.