| SEA SERVICES PEOPLE, PLACES AND ISSUES |
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Former Secretary of Defense and United States Senator William Cohen kindly agreed to say a few
words at the 105th Anniversary Dinner of the Navy League of the United States New York Council. The
following is excerpted from his remarks.
Let me say how honored Janet and I are to be here with you this evening celebrating the 105th
anniversary of the New York Council of the Navy League. It is a council that is known far and wide for
its support for the Navy.
I can't tell you what it meant for me to become Secretary of Defense. I served 31 years in public
office but the best four years of my life were at the Pentagon. Every day that I went to the Pentagon and
I walked up those steps, I developed a sense of exhilaration. There is nothing quite like being a Secretary
of Defense of the finest military in the world. You walk through those doors and you feel the sense of
energy and intelligence and patriotism and dedication to the welfare, well being and security of the
country. I always felt a spinal surge go up my back when I looked and I saw the people who are
volunteering for this country, who give up so much - - not only they but their families who sacrifice so
much for their country so that we can remain free and prosperous and healthy and spreading the word
about how good this country is.
We are going through a period right now in which America has been given a negative image but I
think it is not real. I know it is not real. Yet, many people throughout the world do not hold us in quite as
high esteem. [W]e can change that and we are going to change that. What we need to do is reach out and
embrace the rest of the world to show them that we are forward deployed. We are forwarded deployed
for a reason. By being forward deployed - - making all of those sacrifices that we do - - we are able to
shape the political environment in ways that are advantageous to us and to the rest of the world.
There is no other country on the face of this earth that has the desire and ability to promote stability.
When there is stability, what do you have? You have prosperity starting to take root because when there
is stability, capital flows into those countries. I think that all of you understand that capital is a coward
and the moment there is instability capital takes flight. When it takes flight you have [increased] instability
and the potential for countries to become failed states. So, we are serving our nation's interests and we
are serving the globe's interests by being involved in their affairs and ours.
No other country can do this. No other country will tax itself the way we have taxed ourselves. No
other country will ask their sons and daughters to volunteer to go into the services to promote this great
responsibility of ours to help shape the globe in ways that are peaceful and stable.
I can tell you that I still feel this passionately and I know that Janet feels even more so because she
was by my side for the 800,000 miles that we traveled when I was with the Pentagon. We couldn't wait
to get out and be with the young men and women who are out serving our country. I tell you it is the
most exhausting, exhilarating, and rewarding job in the world. It wasn't really a job. It was an
opportunity. I remain grateful to President Clinton to have reached across the aisle and said: "I'll ask a
Republican to serve in this Administration because I want to send a signal that when it comes to national
security, there is no Republican or Democratic approach. We are all in it together."
I'll never forget the time that Janet was over in Kosovo with me and we walked by a lonely outpost.
She said: "It really must be tough for you during this time of Christmas celebration" to a young soldier
who was standing there on duty. He said: "No M'am, someone has got to do it. I'm glad to be here
tonight so that I can do it." That is the kind of spirit that we have in our young people who are serving.
It is the kind of thing that the American people don't know enough about. When you see a poll
taken in the newspapers saying 28 percent of the American people understand that we have lost nearly
4,000 people over in Iraq and Afghanistan [it says that] less than a third of the American people
understand this. We have got to do a much better job. We have got to continue to say: "You've got
people out there, serving, sacrificing, dying in order to keep this country strong and free." We don't pay
them enough in any way, respect or admiration so we have got to do a better job than we have done. We
have got to remind the American people.
They are all heroes. I remember reading Ralph Waldo Emerson who said: "A hero is no greater than
any other person except that he is braver five minutes longer." I think about that statement in conjunction
with the scholarship that you are establishing tonight, the Lieutenant Michael Murphy Scholarship. I had a
chance to meet the Murphy family and what an extraordinary family they are - - the sacrifice they have
made, the loss of a son, what a hero he was and remains. If you think about how brave he was for those
five minutes longer, to be able to go out and put himself at risk after having been wounded so he could
save his brothers in arms, that is the kind of heroism that every one of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and
Marines have in them. So, we have to rededicate ourselves to promoting them, to showing them to the
world, to showing them to the American people.
I wanted to say just a final word to the family of Michael Murphy. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who
remains one of my great heroes, was a great Supreme Court Justice of the United States. He was
wounded during the Civil War and he never really got over the sights and sounds and experiences he had
during the Civil War and it stayed with him throughout his life. But he said something and it has stayed
with me for a lifetime. He said: "Alas, we cannot live our dreams. It is enough if we can give a sample of
our best and know in our hearts it has been nobly done." That is what Michael Murphy did. He gave a
sample of his best. All of us know in our hearts that it was nobly done and we are here tonight to pay
respect to his family, to honor his service, to honor his memory so that others will follow his example in
the future and keep this country great and strong.
words at the 105th Anniversary Dinner of the Navy League of the United States New York Council. The
following is excerpted from his remarks.
Let me say how honored Janet and I are to be here with you this evening celebrating the 105th
anniversary of the New York Council of the Navy League. It is a council that is known far and wide for
its support for the Navy.
I can't tell you what it meant for me to become Secretary of Defense. I served 31 years in public
office but the best four years of my life were at the Pentagon. Every day that I went to the Pentagon and
I walked up those steps, I developed a sense of exhilaration. There is nothing quite like being a Secretary
of Defense of the finest military in the world. You walk through those doors and you feel the sense of
energy and intelligence and patriotism and dedication to the welfare, well being and security of the
country. I always felt a spinal surge go up my back when I looked and I saw the people who are
volunteering for this country, who give up so much - - not only they but their families who sacrifice so
much for their country so that we can remain free and prosperous and healthy and spreading the word
about how good this country is.
We are going through a period right now in which America has been given a negative image but I
think it is not real. I know it is not real. Yet, many people throughout the world do not hold us in quite as
high esteem. [W]e can change that and we are going to change that. What we need to do is reach out and
embrace the rest of the world to show them that we are forward deployed. We are forwarded deployed
for a reason. By being forward deployed - - making all of those sacrifices that we do - - we are able to
shape the political environment in ways that are advantageous to us and to the rest of the world.
There is no other country on the face of this earth that has the desire and ability to promote stability.
When there is stability, what do you have? You have prosperity starting to take root because when there
is stability, capital flows into those countries. I think that all of you understand that capital is a coward
and the moment there is instability capital takes flight. When it takes flight you have [increased] instability
and the potential for countries to become failed states. So, we are serving our nation's interests and we
are serving the globe's interests by being involved in their affairs and ours.
No other country can do this. No other country will tax itself the way we have taxed ourselves. No
other country will ask their sons and daughters to volunteer to go into the services to promote this great
responsibility of ours to help shape the globe in ways that are peaceful and stable.
I can tell you that I still feel this passionately and I know that Janet feels even more so because she
was by my side for the 800,000 miles that we traveled when I was with the Pentagon. We couldn't wait
to get out and be with the young men and women who are out serving our country. I tell you it is the
most exhausting, exhilarating, and rewarding job in the world. It wasn't really a job. It was an
opportunity. I remain grateful to President Clinton to have reached across the aisle and said: "I'll ask a
Republican to serve in this Administration because I want to send a signal that when it comes to national
security, there is no Republican or Democratic approach. We are all in it together."
I'll never forget the time that Janet was over in Kosovo with me and we walked by a lonely outpost.
She said: "It really must be tough for you during this time of Christmas celebration" to a young soldier
who was standing there on duty. He said: "No M'am, someone has got to do it. I'm glad to be here
tonight so that I can do it." That is the kind of spirit that we have in our young people who are serving.
It is the kind of thing that the American people don't know enough about. When you see a poll
taken in the newspapers saying 28 percent of the American people understand that we have lost nearly
4,000 people over in Iraq and Afghanistan [it says that] less than a third of the American people
understand this. We have got to do a much better job. We have got to continue to say: "You've got
people out there, serving, sacrificing, dying in order to keep this country strong and free." We don't pay
them enough in any way, respect or admiration so we have got to do a better job than we have done. We
have got to remind the American people.
They are all heroes. I remember reading Ralph Waldo Emerson who said: "A hero is no greater than
any other person except that he is braver five minutes longer." I think about that statement in conjunction
with the scholarship that you are establishing tonight, the Lieutenant Michael Murphy Scholarship. I had a
chance to meet the Murphy family and what an extraordinary family they are - - the sacrifice they have
made, the loss of a son, what a hero he was and remains. If you think about how brave he was for those
five minutes longer, to be able to go out and put himself at risk after having been wounded so he could
save his brothers in arms, that is the kind of heroism that every one of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and
Marines have in them. So, we have to rededicate ourselves to promoting them, to showing them to the
world, to showing them to the American people.
I wanted to say just a final word to the family of Michael Murphy. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who
remains one of my great heroes, was a great Supreme Court Justice of the United States. He was
wounded during the Civil War and he never really got over the sights and sounds and experiences he had
during the Civil War and it stayed with him throughout his life. But he said something and it has stayed
with me for a lifetime. He said: "Alas, we cannot live our dreams. It is enough if we can give a sample of
our best and know in our hearts it has been nobly done." That is what Michael Murphy did. He gave a
sample of his best. All of us know in our hearts that it was nobly done and we are here tonight to pay
respect to his family, to honor his service, to honor his memory so that others will follow his example in
the future and keep this country great and strong.
A CALL FOR REDEDICATION
FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
WILLIAM COHEN CALLS ON US TO
REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO PROMOTING
THOSE WHO SERVE.
Edited by Richard H. Wagner
(Originally published by the Navy League of the United
States, New York Council in The Log, Spring 2008).
FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
WILLIAM COHEN CALLS ON US TO
REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO PROMOTING
THOSE WHO SERVE.
Edited by Richard H. Wagner
(Originally published by the Navy League of the United
States, New York Council in The Log, Spring 2008).
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