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| Congratulations to all of you for completing the Nashville D.A.R.E. program and welcome to the Washington County Military Veterans who have joined us tonight . I regret that a prior commitment prevents me from personally attending your graduation ceremony. I applaud each of you for making the personal commitment to increasing your knowledge and awareness of the perils of using drugs. Each student from St. Ann's, Trinity St. John's and Nashville Middle School who participated in this program should be proud of themselves for completing the program and making their future a priority. Each of you took the time and made the effort for developing the skills needed for avoiding peer pressure and the potential lure of drug use. I also want to commend the parents, family, teachers, D.A.R.E. instructors and community for providing critical support, encouragement and assistance to these young people. We should take the time each and every day to appreciate and recognize the selfless work of our nation's teachers and police officers. They are America's heroes who too often are forgotten or ignored. America's teachers are helping our youth develop the personal, professional and emotional skills necessary for successfully defining and achieving their goals. Their impact on our children and our nation's future is immeasurable and irreplaceable, and we honor them for their dedication and service to us all. And not only are police officers making personal sacrifices for the safety of all our citizens but many of them are taking the time to provide even more back to the community by participating in community programs such as D.A.R.E. that help our children develop and strengthen the personal skills needed for avoiding the obstacles of youth including drugs. The use of illegal drugs in America not only devastates lives and families, but endangers the future vitality of our children and our nation. If the 'war on drugs' is to ever be won, we need the active participation of every segment of our society - not only government, but businesses, educators, the media, religious and community groups, and all concerned individuals, especially families. Community based education and counseling play such an important role in combating and preventing substance abuse. Education enables America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco products. In many communities the D.A.R.E. program is an innovative approach for helping young Americans develop the skills necessary for making critical decisions and solving unique and often difficult problems while navigating the path of adolescence. An important feature of the D.A.R.E program is that it allows each community to focus on the unique needs and obstacles facing their young people thereby developing curriculum and solutions that meet their particular needs. Certainly, each of you has recognized this and have responded to the call of battle against drugs, just as the men and woman in the audience tonight who have served our nation so bravely. I urge each of you to continue fighting to not only keep drugs out of your life but to have the personal strength necessary for helping your friends, family and community remain free from the self-inflicted miseries of drug usage. Tonight we also honor the veterans of Washington County who so selflessly served this great nation I would like to share with you a personal story from the days when I was held prisoner alongside many other brave Americans during the Vietnam War. It has to do with a person that showed his own spirit through an act of great patriotism. I spent more than 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton. In the early years of our imprisonment, the North Vietnamese kept us either in solitary confinement or two to three to a cell. In 1971, the North Vietnamese moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change, and a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans, led by people like Nancy and Ronald Reagan, on behalf of a few hundred POWs, 10,000 miles from home. One of the men moved into my cell was Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't own a pair of shoes until he was thirteen years old. At seventeen, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and later earned a commission. He then became a Naval flying officer, and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation for the opportunities this country - and our military - provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. The uniforms we wore in prison consisted of a blue short-sleeved shirt, trousers that looked like pajama trousers and rubber sandals that were made out of automobile tires. I recommend then highly; one pair lasted my entire stay. As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a piece of white cloth and a piece of red cloth and fashioned himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he sewed the American flag on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of our cell, and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know that saying the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important or meaningful part of our day now, but I can assure you that - for those men in that stark prison cell - it was indeed the most important and meaningful event of our day. One day, the Vietnamese searched our cell and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, called for Mike Christian to come out, closed the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then they opened the door of the cell and threw him back inside. He was not in good shape. We tried to comfort and take care of him as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs in each corner of the room. After things quieted down, I went to lie down to go to sleep. As I did, I happened to look in the corner of the room. Sitting there beneath that dim light bulb, with a piece of white cloth, a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. Sitting there, with his eyes almost shut from his beating, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was for us to be able to pledge our allegiance to our flag and country. Duty, Honor, Country. We must never forget those thousands of Americans who, with their courage, with their sacrifice, and with their lives, made those words live for all of us. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you this evening. |