Speech
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| TUESDAY, FEBRUARU 2, 2007 | ||
| LUKE AFB BLACK HISTORY MONTH LUNCHEON CLUB THUNDERBOLT |
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| Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay | ||
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GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT KIND WELCOME. AFTER SURVIVING ICE STORMS BACK IN WASHINGTON, AND ALSO AT HOME IN ST. LOUIS…IT’S GOOD TO BE IN PHOENIX! I ESPECIALLY WANT TO THANK SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT DARRYL MARION, WHO CHAIRS YOUR BLACK HISTORY MONTH COMMITTEE, ALL OF THE BLACK HISTORY MONTH COMMITTEE MEMBERS,TECHNICAL SERGEANT LEITHA FOWLER, AND MY GOOD FRIEND, TECHNICAL SERGEANT DANA ARCHER, FOR INVITING ME TO BE HERE.I ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE YOUR OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP AT LUKE:YOUR DEPUTY WING COMMANDER, COLONEL DAVID ORR.COLONEL, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY. IT HAS BEEN A REAL PLEASURE FOR ME TO VISIT YOU CAN REALLY FEEL THAT THUNDERBOLT SPIRIT. I WANT TO CONGRATULATE YOU AND GENERAL JONES FOR RUNNING SUCH A TERRIFIC INSTALLATION. OF COURSE, I’VE ALWAYS FELT CLOSE TO THE AIR FORCE,BECAUSE OF PROXIMITY AND THE LARGE NUMBER OF DEFENSE-RELATED FAMILIES THAT I REPRESENT. YOU SEE, BACK IN ST. LOUIS,I AM VERY PROUD TO BE KNOWN AS THE CONGRESSMAN FROM BOEING.IN FACT, THE HEADQUARTERS OF BOEING INTEGRATED DEFENSE SYSTEMS IS JUST FIVE MINUTES AWAY FROM MY OFFICE. SO I AM WELL ACQUAINTED WITH AND JUST EAST OF MY DISTRICT, ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN ILLINOIS, WE ARE VERY PROUD TO BE HOME TO SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE… ANOTHER TREMENDOUS MILITARY ASSET THAT IS VITAL TO OUR NATION’S DEFENSE.NOW OF COURSE I KNOW OUT HERE AT LUKE, YOU FOCUS ON FLYING AND TRAINING ON THE THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY BOTHERS ME ABOUT THAT PLANE,IS THAT NONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD AND MAINTAIN IT CAN VOTE FOR ME…UNLESS THEY’RE VOTING ABSENTEE! BUT THAT’S A DIFFERENT SPEECH FOR A DIFFERENT DAY! I AM HONORED TO BE HERE TO CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH YOU.AND I THINK IT’S APPROPRIATE THAT I’VE COME TO LUKE AIR FORCE BASE TO TALK ABOUT THAT SUBJECT. BECAUSE YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT MOVING FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM, WITHOUT RECOGNIZING THE REMARKABLE CONTRIBUTIONS THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE MADE TO DEFEND OUR NATION. THAT COMMITMENT TO DEFENDING FREEDOM IS AS OLD AS OUR REPUBLIC.IN FACT THE FIRST BLOOD SPILLED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION CAME FROM A BLACK PATRIOT:CHRISPUS ATTICUS.AND THE RECORD OF SERVICE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN UNIFORM, THROUGHOUT EVERY CONFLICT IN OUR NATION’S HISTORY, IS LONG AND ILLUSTRIOUS…. IN 1814, FREED BLACK MEN HELPED ANDREW JACKSON WIN THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.DURING THE CIVIL WAR, AND THEN, IN THE 20TH CENTURY, THERE CAME THE GREAT WAR IN EUROPE… WORLD WAR I,THE WAR TO END ALL WARS. IN THAT GREAT CONFLICT, MORE THAN 400,000 BLACK SOLDIERS SERVED IN SEGREGATED UNITS. THE 339TH NEGRO REGIMENT SPENT 191 DAYS ON THE FRONT LINES IN FRANCE…LONGER THAN ANY OTHER REGIMENT. THEY WERE HONORED BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR EXTRAORDINARY BRAVERY AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.AND THEN TWENTY YEARS LATER, WORLD WAR II UNLEASHED DESTRUCTION, DEATH AND EVIL AT A LEVEL THAT MANKIND HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE.AND HERE AT HOME, WE WERE STILL WAITING.WE WILL STILL WAITING TO HAVE THE COUNTRY THAT WE LOVED FINALLY RECOGNIZE OUR FULL CITIZENSHIP AND AFFIRM OUR BASIC HUMAN DIGNITY. BUT STILL, EVEN IN THE FACE OF JIM CROW, LYNCHINGS, BURNINGS AND EVERY KIND OF BRUTALITY; WE LINED UP.WE RAISED OUR HANDS.AND WE TOOK THAT OATH TO BECOME SOLDIERS.SO THE QUESTION THAT I OFTEN ASK IS WHY? WHY…OVER THE LAST TWO CENTURIES, IN THE FACE OF SLAVERY, SEGREGATION, AND INTOLERANCE….WHY? WHY BOTHER? I THINK THE ANSWER COMES DOWN TO ONE WORD…COURAGE. BECAUSE TO FACE THE REALITY OF GROWING UP BLACK IN AMERICA IN THOSE DAYS TOOK REAL COURAGE.AND MAYBE, WHEN YOU’RE FACING THE ENEMY, IT HELPS TO HAVE FACED EVIL BEFORE. IT MAY BE THAT OUR GREAT CAPACITY TO EXCELL AS SOLDIERS IS PART OF OUR SHARED LEGACY OF ENDURING HARDSHIP AND CONTINUING TO STRUGGLE TO ACHIEVE OUR OBJECTIVES.THAT SEAMLESS STREAK OF COURAGE WAS BORN IN BONDAGE. IT REACHED ACROSS THE DECADES AS WE FOUGHT TO DEFEND OUR COUNTRY AND TO WIN OUR OWN FREEDOM.AND IT STILL STANDS UNBROKEN TODAY… IN BAGHDAD, AT BALAD, AND AT BAGRAM AIR BASE IN AFGHANISTAN.YOUR PROUD SERVICE TODAY, IS JUST A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THAT COLLECTIVE COURAGE. THIS YEAR, THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE IS CELEBRATING IT’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY. AND YOU HAVE MUCH TO BE PROUD OF. BUT FOR ME, YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT HAPPENED EVEN BEFORE THERE WAS AN AIR FORCE… WHEN YOU WERE STILL THE ARMY AIR CORPS. I’M SURE YOU’RE ALL VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE HEROISM OF THE TUSKEEGEE AIRMAN. ON MARCH 22, 1942, BY SPECIAL ACT OF CONGRESS, THE ARMY AIR CORPS ACTIVATED THE ALL-BLACK 99TH FIGHTER SQUADRON. THAT PROGRAM EXPANDED TO BECOME THE FAMED 332ND FIGHTER GROUP AND THE 447TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP. THE 332ND STARTED OUT FLYING THEY UPGRADED TO P-47s. AND THEN FINALLY, THE FABULOUS P-51 MUSTANGS, WITH THOSE MAGNIFICENT RED TAILS. CAPTURED FLIGHT LOGS FROM LUFTWAFFE PILOTS TALKED ABOUT COMING UP AGAINST FEARLESS, RED- TAILED, BLACK DEVILS. IMAGINE THAT…THE NAZI’S JUST COULDN’T HANDLE US! PERHAPS THE 332ND’S MOST AMAZING MISSION WAS LED BY CAPTAIN BENJAMIN DAVIS, WHO WOULD LATER BECAUSE THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO REACH THE RANK OF GENERAL IN THE U.S. AIR FORCE. BERLIN.AND UNKNOWN TO THE AMERICANS, THE NAZI’S HAD A BIG SURPRISE WAITING FOR THEM… THE M.E. 262. THE WORLD’S FIRST OPERATIONAL COMBAT JET. THAT DAY,
AND EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE FACING THIS NAZI SUPER-WEAPON, THEY DIDN’T LOSE ONE ALLIED BOMBER. ONE OF CAPTAIN DAVIS’ WINGMEN THAT DAY WAS FROM HIS NAME WAS LIEUTENANT PRUITT WAS BORN AND RAISED NOT FAR FROM WHERE I GREW UP AS A CHILD. HIS SERVICE RECORD INCLUDED THREE CONFIRMED AIR-T0-AIR KILLS, ELEVEN CONFIRMED DESTROYED ENEMY AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND, AND PRUITT EVEN SHARED CREDIT FOR SINKING A DESTROYER. LT. PRUITT WAS AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS WITH SEVEN CLUSTERS. AND YET, WHEN HE CAME HOME, HE WAS UNABLE TO EAT IN A RESTAURANT OR GO TO A MOVIE. STILL…THE WAR DEPARTMENT SENT HIM ON A TOUR TO SELL BONDS TO BLACK AMERICANS. THE CHICAGO DEFENDER, A LEADING BLACK NEWSPAPER, INTERVIEWED PRUITT. HE WAS ASKED WHY HE RISKED EVERYTHING FOR A COUNTRY THAT STILL DEPRIVED HIM OF HIS CIVIL RIGHTS. HE SAID THIS, “WE WERE FIGHTING TWO BATTLES. I FLEW FOR MY PARENTS, FOR MY RACE, FOR OUR BATTLE FOR FIRST-CLASS CITIZENSHIP, AND FOR MY COUNTRY. WE WERE FIGHTING FOR THE 14 MILLION BLACK AMERICANS BACK HERE AT HOME. WE WENT THERE TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS, OPEN A FEW DOORS AND TO DO A JOB. BUT MOSTLY, WE’RE ALL JUST AMERICANS. THAT’S WHY WE CHOSE TO FIGHT,TO SHOW THEM THAT WE’RE AS AMERICAN AS ANYBODY” JUST TWO WEEKS AFTER THAT INTERVIEW, THE NEWLY PROMOTED CAPTAIN WENDELL PRUITT RETURNED TO ACTIVE DUTY AS A FLIGHT TRAINER. HE WAS KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT.CAPTAIN PRUITT IS BURIED IN MY DISTRICT AT THE HISTORIC BURIED IN MOST CEMETERIES IN ST.LOUIS, BECAUSE THE SEGREGATION LAWS EXTENDED ALL THE WAY TO THE GRAVE YARD. SO WHY THIS COURAGE? WHY ALL THIS SACRIFICE? JUST TWO WEEKS AGO. ALONG WITH 28 OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS, I SAT DOWN WITH PRESIDENT BUSH. WE SPENT AN HOUR TOGETHER, AND TALKED ABOUT A GREAT MANY THINGS. BUT FOR ME, THE MOST PROFOUND MOMENT HAPPENED WHEN MY FRIEND, CONGRESSMAN CHARLES RANGEL, OF NEW YORK, TOLD THE PRESIDENT ABOUT HIS FIRST VISIT TO THE WHITE HOUSE AS A NEWLY ELECTED MEMBER OF CONGRESS, WAY BACK IN 1971. RICHARD NIXON WAS THE PRESIDENT. THERE WERE ONLY 13 BLACK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, INCLUDING MY FATHER, FORMER CONGRESSMAN BILL CLAY. THERE WERE NO BLACK COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN.AND WE WERE RELEGATED TO STAY AT THE MARGINS OF POWER. TODAY, THERE ARE FORTY-THREE MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS. THERE ARE FIVE BLACK COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN, AND SEVENTEEN SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMEN.AND I HAPPEN TO BE ONE OF THEM. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE 233 YEARS OF OUR REPUBLIC, BLACK ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE THEIR HANDS ON THE WHEEL OF THIS GOVERNMENT.AND WE INTEND TO USE THAT OPPORTUNITY, NOT JUST TO ADVANCE THE PRIORITIES OF AFRICAN AMERICANS, BUT TO BECOME ADVOCATES FOR EVERY AMERICAN FAMILY WHO WOULD LIKE THEIR CHILDREN’S FUTURE TO BE BETTER, HEALTHIER AND MORE SECURE. AND THAT’S WHERE ALL OF YOU COME IN.YOU ARE THE KEEPERS OF THAT SEAMLESS THREAD OF COURAGE THAT IS STILL UNBROKEN. WHEN CAPTAIN WENDELL PRUITT WAS KILLED IN 1945, THERE WERE 345 NEGRO OFFICERS IN THE ARMY AIR CORPS. TODAY, THAT’S WHAT HIS COURAGE DID FOR US. AND THAT’S WHAT YOUR COURAGE IS DEFENDING TODAY, ALL AROUND THE WORLD. OFFICERS FROM THE 56TH FIGHTER WING WHO ARE DEPLOYED IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ARE REMARKABLE PEOPLE. JUST LIKE YOU, THEY ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST. AND WHILE THERE MAY BE MUCH DEBATE ABOUT OUR POLICY, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DEBATE ABOUT THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO CARRY IT OUT.OUR SOLDIERS ARE MAGNIFICENT. I HONOR THEIR SERVICE.I SALUTE THEIR SACRIFICE, MAY GOD BLESS THEM WITH THE STRENGTH TO CARRY OUT THEIR MISSIONS.MAY HE KEEP THEM SAFE.AND MAY THEY ALL COME HOME SOON. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME HERE.MAY GOD BLESS YOU.AND MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS THE UNITED STATES. # # |
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