morning.

ladies and gentlemen, my is jim byron and i have the honor of being the president and ceo of the richard nixon foundation, and i want to welcome you to the richard nixon library on this very wet day today. thank you. today, 50 years after the end of combat operations by american forces in vietnam, we recognize vietnam veterans and the service that they provide to our country in uniform in the 1960s and seventies. and then after coming home, members of their community who went on to be forces for good and. and additionally we remember and pay tribute today to those who never came home or remain missing in action. you'll see throughout today's program, traditional elements of military ceremony represented by different branches of the united

states military. and to begin i'd like to ask united states army chaplain william williams to the invocation. chaplain williams served in the army for 27 years in both infantry as enlisted man and as a member of the chaplain corps. he is currently the family life resource manager, deputy garrison chaplain advisor, low density faith group leaders and a director of religious education. he has been deployed on eight combat tours. he served as a battalion brigade, detach agent and emcee oam chaplain. chaplain williams. friends join me in your faith tradition as i pray in mine. let us pray. almighty god, i ask that you bless this sermon and all those that are present today. special blessings be upon vietnam veterans and their families who are present today and those who are not. as we remember, their sacrifice,

this legacy and their service that pave the way for our armed forces today. behalf of grateful nation allow us always to place the mission first. never accept defeat, never quit, never leave your falling comfort and your name. we pray. amen. thank you, chaplain. ladies and gentlemen, would you please now rise for the presentation of the colors in the national anthem.

but please. see. can you see me by dawn's early light? what so proudly we held at. that's why it's less mean whose bluster and bright just who the painful side or play possibly

was was so calm endless. and ruckus. it's a good the bones. men gay proved to light that our flag was still there. oh, say, does that song speak angered then ned with. or the land of and the hum of the bridge they.

oh their. rain we. ready got. rain back. i. you may be seated. please join me in thanking the 12th marine corps district guard and navy vocalist taylor johns for that beautiful of the national anthem.

i also want to thank presidents, council members and our associates, members of the richard nixon foundation, who are here with us today whose support made today's commemoration possible and actually made possible the new monument that we're going to be dedicating shortly. i'd like to welcome don waggoner, chairman of the board supervisors of orange county. thank you for being here. as well as yorba linda gene hernandez. councilwoman janice lim. and councilman carlos rodriguez rodriguez. i'm told that this morning you all now are participate in and attending. what is the second largest vietnam day ceremony in the united states? absolutely.

and only second to the gathering at the national park service, vietnam veterans monument on the national. so that's quite a distinction. on march 29th, 1973, 50 years ago today, the last american combat troops left vietnam. that evening, president nixon, the american people from the oval office saying the day that we have all worked and prayed for has finally come he would go on to say, for the first time in 12 years, no military forces are in vietnam. all of our american p.o.w.s are on their way home. vietnam, veterans day became a national day of observance. six years ago when president donald trump signed the vietnam war. veterans act of 2017. however, its origins date to a proclamation issued by president on february 26th, 1974. proclamation 4270 states as a nation. we have acknowledged our deep respect and admiration by setting aside march 29, 1974, as

vietnam veterans day to remember the honorable peace america achieved, which came through great sacrifice. i am disappointed, of course, about our unfortunate patterns of late, and especially today, as this morning's rain is forced, the ceremony endures. but rain or shine, there's no place like the nixon library. and we're going to dedicate and unveil a new monument today celebrating america's vietnam veterans. this monument was brought to life by an extruding, early, helpful and insightful design committee, which consisted of ed brundage tony cordero, joe lopez, phil millard, william mimi aga, chris norton, ike and frank orozco. it's it's right. tony cordero serves as president of the sons and daughters in touch. he is a gold star son.

i'm going to ask tony now to say some words on behalf of the design committee. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. and to all of you vietnam veterans today it is appropriate say happy vietnam veterans day. so graduation speech. as jim mentioned my name is tony cordero. i am a gold star son and lost my dad in vietnam 1965. what you may wonder is how did an air force brat get mixed up with a bunch of marines in trying to come up with an idea to help run design statue but to all of you marines from vietnam it was a wonderful opportunity and what i wanted to do just quickly is acknowledge that we as a nation are 11 years into the vietnam commemoration, the

50th anniversary of the end of the vietnam war. it is an american tradition that at the 50th and 100th anniversary is at the end of all of our wars that we as a nation paused. remember those who bore the battle and those who were left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . >> this is the most expensive

$1.50 you could ever imagine. you can buy the gold star lapel button but it costs a life. it's extremely difficult. it's not like a broken arm or having covid. you get over that. thank you very much to all of you for being here. we also want to ask -- later, we're going to recognize you by service, but i want to ask all the vietnam veterans in the audience, all of you who served during the vietnam war, to please stand and allow us to give you our things and acknowledgment on vietnam war veterans day. all vietnam war veterans, please stand. >> [applause]

[applause] >> from this vantage point, that was incredible. it was absolutely wonderful to see all of you here and to brave the elements to be here. thank you all for doing that. >> -- he is an artist, a sculpture, a painter, a visionary, a creative imagine ear. i say that with all due respect to the friends of the world's new company. when the good friends of the nixon library and nixon foundation asked me about creating a statue to honor all vietnam veterans and that they had identified ron as the designer of this, they needed

some support because the decision had been made that the statue would be of a marine, a combat marine, on patrol in vietnam. they needed to make sure that it was accurate. they wanted to make sure that it was spot on down to the most minute details. i just so happen to know of a guy who lived here in orange county, from the marines, and they are a band of brothers. i said, i will tell you what i can do. let's put together a focus group and bring these guys together at the library. they can tell you what they think. those of you who not marines know that you can't shut them up. >> [laughter] >> those guys talked and talked and talked. they had all kinds of ideas and insight and suggestions. what you will ultimately see is the product of their experience and ron's creativity. it is an absolutely glorious statue. again, we brought these guys

here to the library. they shared information during that meeting and then they shared more information afterwards. that led to the creation of the statue. ron's work is known all over the united states and points around the world. he recently completed a project for the 100th anniversary of the rose bowl stadium in pasadena. he also, something near and dear to my heart, is the sculptor of the statue of traveler on the university of southern california campus. those of you that are familiar with that, very good. i could not elect that pass. it is a glorious statue. rana c designer, the sculpture, the artist behind the statue that will be unveiled today. without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, i want to introduce ron pickard to you.

>> [applause] >> well, i, i am ron pekar. after all that -- >> [applause] >> you know, i am so happy to be here. i am not happy because of me. i am happy because i can see you all. i am so appreciative, you have no idea, and especially my committee. this is a statue that is difficult, i'm going to put it that way, because there are so many details about it.

i did not know these details and the fellows helped me through the whole thing with two things, first, their inspiration. it is magnificent how i enjoyed meeting them and hearing them. the second thing is they gave me some inspiration of what to do, how to do it, and then a lot of other people did as well. i am grateful, that's what i can say. i will say three other things. maybe i already said it. it was tough, it was a difficult sculpture job. second, i had help from several people. i want to say thank you to ed grounded. he was there.

knowing that was very, very beneficial to me. third, when i am curious about how all of this took place. it was like an event that came about on its own. it was very inspirational to me because the whole situation helped me get to the point where we are right now and we have a statue. i am ready to talk about a. i am going to start with the -- >> [applause] >> i am going to quickly go from top to bottom, the helmet.

well, soldiers wear helmets. this one was very special. i found out there is a rubber band that goes around the bottom rim. everyone put different kinds of things in it. the one that i have in there is bug juice. the bug juice is there because it was in vietnam which was, as everybody told me, 110 to 120 degrees every single day. there was never won that won under 110 degrees. i am positive of that. as the helmet got put on, when i sculpted it, i did not sculpt the face with a helmet on. i took the helmet off so i could get to all the details. i need to say one thing about the face. i did the face until i thought

it was right. that is how it came about. it is a made-up face. i had a lot of help in a lot of pictures and a lot of research. it just filled right to me. me. the bandleader, you can begin to see a bit of some of the details that are going to be there as you go over and a look at it. i hope you will. i hope we get a couple of raindrops to go away so you can do that. it comes across the shoulder and wraps around the side of the body and it carries magazines of bullets. it is a very symbolic thing, of course. that is what all of the people out in the bush, as it was, had to have and as many as

possible. another funny thing about the details on this, i found that the canteens and the other things, especially the canteens, were important because we war in heat. as other soldiers have found that have been in cold, i was always curious about the diversity of our armed forces. the boots -- these are jungle boots. they are -- when you told me you could get water in them, i thought, what kind of boots are those? well, you are going to get water on your boots no matter what. it might as well make them easier to clean. they are very rugged and worked. they did not look all that great. the ones on the statue don't look all the great.

you will see when you look at it that he is running through mud in a rice paddy which is a pretty typical thing. head to toe, helmet, bandolier, boots, and all of the other wrinkles and forms in the uniform are there. notice that it is not a really nice uniform. it's a wet uniform. notice that also there are different kinds of stuff happening all over the place. i had a chance one time to put all of this stuff on me. as you can see, i am not that stable. the other thing is, okay, i am small. but it just envelops me. i had a chance to really get a feel for what the fellows

really went through. it was plenty. i thank you so much for everything. >> [applause] >> we could not be more pleased with how this statue turned out. it serves as such a meaningful centerpiece to this beautiful new permanent monument right here at the nixon library. wasn't wrong on pekar the right man for the job? we had planned to have you all outside. we would pull the curtain off of the new monument. that is okay. what i will say is that i would encourage all of you to go see the statue and visit the monument. it is right next to marine one

on the grounds of the nixon library. actually, sometimes it was called army one because, for those of you that know this probably better than me, it was not until 1976 that the marine helicopter squadron, the presidents helicopter squadron was operated by the marines. definitely go see this new and beautiful statue and this wonderful monument next to marine one. as i mentioned earlier, president trump signed national vietnam veterans day into law. his secretary of veterans affairs was robert wilkie who served from 2018 to 2021. the secretary of veterans affairs is a cabinet level position. it is charged with properly ensuring benefits and health care and administering our national veterans memorials and cemeteries. prior to serving in the cabinet, secretary wilkie was under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, the principal adviser to the secretary and deputy secretary

of defense for a total forest management during the george w. bush administration. wilkie served both robert gates and donald rumsfeld as assistant secretary of defense from 2005 2009 and was the youngest senior leader in in the department. prior to his first -- senior director of the national security council under dr. condoleezza rice. he has extensive experience in congress as well including service as a senior adviser to senator tom tillis and council adviser on international security affairs to senate majority leader trend law. he is the son of an army artillery commander and he spent his youth at fort bragg. he is a reserve officer in the united states air force reserve and holds the rank of colonel. prior to joining the air for, he served in the united states navy reserve with the joint forces intelligence command, naval special warfare group in the office of naval intelligence. he is a graduate of the college of naval command and staff air

command staff college of the united states army war college and the joint forces staff college. it's my distinct pleasure to welcome secretary wilkie back to the nixon library today to help us dedicate the monument. >> [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, i cannot tell you what a singular honor it is to be here at the nixon library. i have spent a great deal of time studying president nixon. i know all of you remember that he was a stone cold football fan. not only playing it, but when i was a little boy, he was constantly providing coach short allen and then he later coached the red skins with players to run on sunday afternoons, some of which did not work. >> [laughter] >> president nixon's advice did

not help the red skins out the super bowl. since tony opened the football door, i do want to say as someone from a new orleans that i want to thank the university of southern california trojan's for their hospitality, to the tulane green wave in the cotton bowl. we thank you very much for helping us erase the loss of the green wave to the trojan's in the 1924 rose bowl. as i said, it is a great, great honor for me to be here with you and in this temple to what america will always -- we will eventually recognize it as one of the great builders of peace. when president nixon entered

the white house, there were 600,000 americans in south vietnam. one of them was a young major on his second tour of new orleans, my father. those times, america was in retreat and facing the greatest internal conflict since the civil war. when richard nixon left office, my father was at home because one man a deeply believed in building a generation of peace. it is fitting and proper that this magnificent monument is on the grounds of president nixon's birthplace, the home of a young quaker raised in that peaceful faith, who put tradition aside to wear the uniform of the united states navy during world war ii. as you saw, we have a united states marine slogging through

one of the rice paddy is a vietnam, but he could just as easily be a young american at gettysburg or pontotoc, one of 41 million americans who would put on the uniform since the first shots were fired at lexington green in april of 1785, ordinary americans called upon to do extraordinary things and president nixon was there championing it. he gave voice to a generation forest in the fight against communism. he was steeped in the harsh diplomatic lessons of the 20th century. he represented the confluence of politics with an encyclopedic knowledge of his enemies and weaknesses. i can remember the electric effect he had on my mother and her fellow army wives.

they talked about nixon. they knew that he was one of us. if anyone could figure out a vietnam, it was a man who stood with eisenhower for eight years. as i said here several years ago, my parents jumped ship to vote for richard nixon and they never looked back. in 1994, senator bob dole said on this spot that the second half of the 21st century would be known as the age of nixon. he called richard nixon the most durable public figure of our time. he was a hero to you and to the great silent majority, those who believe in the dignity and importance of -- as bob dole said, warship in god, loving their families, and saluting the flag. dole added that nixon embodied in the deepest feelings of the people he led and in his

ultimate act of service became the centuries greatest architect. i can tell you from my perspective as a former secretary of the department of veterans affairs and colonel of the united states air force and a child of highly decorated combat officers that the effects of his policy decisions and his elevation of the american veteran are fell to this day. what i was seven, my father was grievously wounded in the invasion of cambodia. he was a big man, six foot two, 240 pounds. today, that's not even an nfl quarterback. in 1970, that was a very big man. when he came home after almost a year in an army hospital, he weighed half of what he weighed when he went to southeast asia. as much as i was shocked by his injuries, that was not the only

memory that i took from that time. i also saw vietnam through the eyes of ford bragg, classmates who are sometimes called to the principles office when they were not going for a doctors appointment. there was a chance that there was bad news from southeast asia. in april of 1975, one of my classmates asked -- an air force medic. president ford had ordered the evacuation of all of the orphanages in saigon in anticipation of the north

vietnamese into that beleaguered city. he volunteered to help rescue those children. sadly, the crew that he was a member of was 174 young, helpless vietnamese children. it crashed at the end of the runway at thompson air base. 40 years later, i was able to take denise to touch her father's name on the vietnam board, a memorial that is there because of what you all did and what you sacrificed. i also remember at that time after my father recovered from his wounds, a senior officer in the all american division, he was not allowed to wear his uniform off post. as a time, that was no offense

to california bears. that was not berkeley, california. that was not cambridge, massachusetts. that was southeastern north carolina, the heart of richard nixon country. richard nixon had ended the combat strife in vietnam. that would make him one of the greatest architect of peace and serenity in the history of this nation. as dr. kissinger said 25 years ago, he advanced the vision of peace of his quaker youth. he did more than that. he took a stand against the media and the popular misguided sentiment at the time that americans who fought in southeast asia were broken human beings, not worthy of the honors bestowed on previous generations. i remember an incident

involving my mother. she was a ford bragg schoolteacher. it was the summer and she was not teaching. i was at home waiting for the little league baseball game in the united states. he had that famous microphone of his running up and down the aisles of the television studio. the supposed victim was one of richard nixon's best friends. donahue kept ribbon hope and trying to get him to say that those who served in vietnam or somehow unworthy of americas respect. bob dole, bob hope finally had enough. he looked at donahue and he said, the faces that i saw in saigon or the same faces i saw in okinawa, young americans

called upon to do things that the rest of their fellow citizens could never imagine and things that they did without complaint. i remember my mother yelling from the kitchen, god bless you, bob hope. >> [applause] >> in those times, america forgot that her freedom was not guaranteed by pundits, professors, and protesters. it was guaranteed by the souls and efforts of those 41 million americans who carried liberty on their shoulders, not only for this nation but for the rest of the world. nixon never forgot it. he never forgot those americans who sacrificed all and gave all in southeast vietnam. cambodia.

and laos -- he signed more legislation honoring veterans than any president in history. he openly praised american warriors for what they did there, honorably undertaking and honorably ending. he signed the largest numbers of veterans and bills in one day of any american president. he said that by giving you, our veterans, the gratitude and the opportunity that you deserve, we are only doing the right thing, we are doing the right thing for all of america. each returning american is a human resource, a mature, highly motivated young citizen who has proven his capacity to serve and to achieve. these young men and women form the strongest hope for america's future. >> [applause]

>> he rejected the counterculture. he hosted the largest ever gathering on the lawn of the white house under an enormous tent on the south lawn. he met each one of the 500 returning p.o.w.'s who were held in vietnam and came to the white house with their families. he dared those who criticized him as he congratulated the thousands of american airmen who carried out his orders to take the fight to the heart of north vietnam to force the communists to say enough. he admitted to those in the audience that had wondered if anyone in america supported that decision that they're being there was proof that

america had. he knew that the audience that mattered were the men whose lives were at risk who we're now at home. he said, i will tell you this. after having met each one of our honored guests this evening and having talked to them, i think that all of us would like to join in a round of applause for the brave men who took those b-52s to the skies and did the job. >> [applause] >> the p.o.w.'s and their families stood and roared for ten minutes. nixon concluded that if they had not done it we would not be here tonight. he raised the glass and hosted all the wives and mothers of our p.o.w.'s as honorary first

ladies of america. on the political front was the second half of the 21st century the age of nixon? i can say that when it comes to veterans nixon himself didn't preside over this nation at a time when america began to honor its warriors the way that it wished. he never forgot who guarantees the freedom. he never succumbed to the amnesia that blanketed this nation over generations. it took years, but america would slowly shake off the dark time thanks in part to the same men and women who nixon said formed the strongest hope for our future. with no parades or welcome home rallies to return to, to you, the warriors of southeast asia, pushed in the 1970s and the 19 80s to build the vietnam morial

and slowly this country really learned richard nixon's wisdom that these veterans are our heroes for shouldering the responsibility and protecting our freedom and that of our allies whatever the result may be. >> [applause] >> a young major who had been wounded in vietnam twice began to cut his teeth in the political world as a fellow in several departments of the nixon administration. his name was colin powell. he looked at president nixon and he realize that what president nixon was saying was that a platoon of united states marines do more for world peace than all of the celebrity telethon's, hollywood actors, and pundits who tell the world

how special they are. colin powell was right. it's important for us to remember what you all do not just for this country but for the world. if our respect for veterans today counts for anything along with the working hard, worshipping the lord, loving families and saluting the flag, we are actually living. we are thankfully a pro veteran country. we see people standing with veterans of all ages, videos of veterans surprising children at school after long deployments, even some celebrities in hollywood support our work. the past that you know viscerally reveals that there is no guarantee that this will last. support for our heroes is

fragile. we must do everything we can to make sure that we never return to the dark days of vietnam. we honor nixon's call to give you the gratitude and opportunity. when nixon toasted the wives and mothers of the american p.o.w.s, he called them the bravest and most magnificent women he had ever seen. he would be amazed today to see that 50% of the active forces women. he was getting at something that mr. cordero is involved with today. never forget that when americans go to war, and americans in some cases gave everything, those families have been to war with them and suffered.

bob dole was right when he stood here 29 years ago and said that it is the duty of the silent majority to be less silent and to stand bravely in the public square as richard nixon did and declare what that majority knows to be true and then patiently left of the country catch up to them. on the evening of d-day, general matthew ridgeway, who had been tasked by general eisenhower with planning and leading the airborne assault on hitler's fortress, which meant he commanded the all americans of the second airborne division, the screaming eagles of the 101st airborne division, and the british first airborne division, general ridgeway was so restless he actually fell out of his caught and he reached for the old testament. he reached for the book of joshua. he pulled down the lords promised to the great general

on the eve of the battle of jericho. he said, i shall not forsake thee nor forget the. in 1987, ronald reagan percentage enroll ridgeway with the presidential medal of freedom, noting that heroes come when they are needed but great americans step forward when courage seems in short supply. the memorial on these grounds is about you. great americans step forward. you never failed. i will leave with the words of reverend billy graham. billy graham said of president nixon that he treats best measured when it is laid down. president nixon's humble roots to his legacy have yet to be

measured. i am convinced that the views of history will accurately measure his life and his genius and that richard nixon won't be found wanting. this statue at this place in your honor is a fitting reminder of all that that man meant to the men and women who answered the call and never failed our nation. thank you for the honor. god bless you! >> [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we now want to acknowledge everyone in the audience who serve today by concluding with a little tune, as we like to do, and we invite

you to stand when you hear your medley. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the united states army. >> [applause] >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the united states navy.

>> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the coast guard. >> ♪ ♪ ♪

>> the united states air force. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> -- >> ♪ ♪ ♪

>> the united states marine corps. >> ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> the air force memorial, the navy memorial -- in your honor, those wreaths were placed today to salute you on national vietnam war veterans day. >> [applause]

>> if you are enjoying american history tv, sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on your screen to enjoy weekly programs like -- sign up for the american history tv newsletter today and be sure to watch american history tv every saturday or anytime online at c-span dot org. >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday, american history tv documents america story. on sunday, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. funding for c-span two comes from these television companies and more. >> -- hi! >> friends don't have to be.