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Medal of Freedom 12/12/91 [OA 6040]
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Draft Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13594
Folder ID Number:
13594-006
Folder Title:
Medal of Freedom 12/12/91 [OA 6040]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
17
5
2
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM \ THE EAST ROOM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1991 \ 5:00 P.M.
GOOD AFTERNOON. BARBARA AND I ARE HAPPY TO BE HERE
WITH VICE PRESIDENT AND MRS. QUAYLE; WITH SEVERAL
MEMBERS OF MY CABINET: JIM BAKER, BoB MOSBACHER, LYNN
MARTIN. //
WE ARE JOINED TODAY BY TWO GENTLEMEN WHO REPRESENT
OUR HIGHEST HUMANITARIAN IDEALS: UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL
GIANDOMENICO Picco. //
- 2 -
LET ME ALSO WELCOME TO THE WHITE HOUSE THE FRIENDS AND
FAMILIES OF FIVE SPECIAL MEN RETURNED To FREEDOM. /
FINALLY, TO THOMAS SUTHERLAND / ALANN STEEN / JESSE
TURNER / JOSEPH CICIPPIO / AND TERRY ANDERSON: LET ME
SIMPLY SAY: WELCOME HOME. //
ALL OVER AMERICA, PEOPLE WAITED FOR THE DAY YOUR
LONG ORDEAL WOULD END. ALL OVER AMERICA, WE SHARE YOUR
JOY: WE THANK GOD THAT YOU ARE FREE. //
- 3 -
NOTHING SAYS IT BETTER THAN THE SIGN BACK IN
NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, IN THOMAS CICIPPIO'S FRONT
YARD. FOR FIVE LONG YEARS, THAT SIGN SERVED AS A
CONSTANT REMINDER: WITH THE NAME OF EACH HOSTAGE --
AND A NUMBER COUNTING EACH CRUEL DAY OF CAPTIVITY.
THEN, ONE BY ONE, THE NUMBERS GAVE WAY TO A SIGN MARKED
"FREED." FINALLY, JUST NINE DAYS AGO, CAME THE MOMENT
THE CICIPPIO FAMILY PRAYED FOR.
T
- 4 -
OVER JOSEPH'S NAME, THEY NAILED NOT ANOTHER NUMBER, BUT
A SIGN, THAT READ: "FREE AT LAST."
ALL OF YOU HAVE SURVIVED AN ACT OF UNSPEAKABLE,
UNCIVILIZED CRUELTY. HOSTAGE-TAKING IS HELL ON A HUMAN
SCALE -- NOT JUST FOR THE INNOCENTS HELD CAPTIVE, BUT
FOR THE FAMILIES THEY LEFT BEHIND. /
No POWER ON EARTH CAN GIVE BACK THE YEARS YOU HAVE
LOST. YET NO ONE CAN TAKE FROM YOU THE STRENGTH OF
SPIRIT THAT SUSTAINED YOU.
- 5 -
THE WORLD IS NOW LEARNING THE HORRORS YOU ENDURED. BUT
WE'RE LEARNING AS WELL THE STORY OF YOUR SURVIVAL --
THE MIRACLE YOU FASHIONED FROM THE HOPE YOUR CAPTORS
COULD NOT TAKE AWAY. //
WE KNOW NOW HOW YOU USED THE LANGUAGE OF THE DEAF
TO COMMUNICATE FROM CELL TO CELL -- TO SPEAK TO ONE
ANOTHER IN SILENCE; HOW YOU MANAGED TO LEARN FROM ONE
ANOTHER -- LAUGH WITH ONE ANOTHER -- HELP EACH OTHER
SUSTAIN A STUBBORN DIGNITY. //
- 6 -
You DEMONSTRATED EACH DAY IN CAPTIVITY A DEFIANT FAITH.
You BELIEVED IN YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR FAMILIES, YOUR
COLLEAGUES -- AND YOURSELVES. You KNEW, THAT ONE DAY,
YOU WOULD GO FREE. //
YOUR TRIUMPH SHINES NEW LIGHT ON A SIMPLE TRUTH.
THE DAYS AND YEARS APART BURN AWAY THE TRIVIAL THINGS
WE ONCE THOUGHT HAD VALUE -- TO REVEAL WHAT TRULY
MATTERS IN LIFE: FAMILY / FAITH / HOPE AND LOVE.
- 7 -
SEEING FREEDOM THROUGH YOUR EYES -- EVEN FOR A MOMENT
-- FREES US FROM THE PETTY CONCERNS THAT so OFTEN HOLD
US HOSTAGE AND DISTRACT US FROM LIFE'S LARGER JOYS.
///
THE FAMILIES HERE TODAY ARE WHOLE AGAIN. BUT FOR
OTHERS, THE ORDEAL IS NOT OVER: FOR TWO GERMAN
CITIZENS AND THEIR FAMILIES -- FOR THE FAMILIES OF TWO
COURAGEOUS AMERICANS WHOSE DUTY SENT THEM TO LEBANON
AND WHO DIED AT THE HANDS OF THEIR CAPTORS.
- 8 -
IN THE NAME OF THE CIVILIZED VALUES WE HOLD DEAR, I
CALL ON THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CRIMES: FREE
HEINRICH STRUEBIG AND THOMAS KEMPTNER. RETURN THE
REMAINS OF RICH HIGGINS AND WILLIAM BUCKLEY. LET THE
FAMILIES OF THESE INNOCENT MEN FIND PEACE. ///
THE TRUTH IS CLEAR: HOSTAGE-TAKING HAS FAILED.
FROM THE BEGINNING IN TEHRAN IN 1979, HOSTAGE-TAKERS
SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT OUR SYSTEM'S REVERENCE FOR THE
INDIVIDUAL AS A WEAKNESS. //
- 9 -
YOUR CAPTORS BELIEVED HOSTAGE-TAKING WOULD TIE OUR
HANDS. THEY WERE WRONG. WE REMAIN DETERMINED To
DEFEND AMERICAN INTERESTS AND INTERNATIONAL PRINCIPLES
IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THROUGH DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT
STORM, WE STOOD FAST AGAINST AGGRESSION. WE SHOWED THE
WORLD: TERRORISM IN ALL ITS FORMS CANNOT SUCCEED. //
IN THE END, THE HOSTAGE-TAKERS DID MORE DAMAGE TO
THEIR CAUSE THAN THEY DID TO AMERICAN RESOLVE.
- 10 -
IN THE END, EACH HOSTAGE-TAKING -- EACH HEARTLESS ACT
AGAINST INNOCENTS -- ANNOUNCED TO THE WORLD THE
INHUMANITY OF THE CAPTORS.
ToM SUTHERLAND AND TERRY ANDERSON -- YOU WERE RIGHT
WHEN YOU SAID NO TO NEGOTIATING WITH HOSTAGE-TAKERS.
THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS FOLLOWED A NO-NEGOTIATION
POLICY SINCE THE BEGINNING. BARGAINING SERVES ONLY TO
MAKE A CURRENCY OF HUMAN LIVES -- AND LEADS TO MORE OF
THE EVIL IT SEEKS TO END.
- 11 -
I AM CONVINCED THAT THIS COURSE REMAINS THE WORLD'S
BEST HOPE THAT NO MORE INNOCENT MEN AND WOMEN WILL MEET
YOUR FATE -- THAT NO FAMILY WILL EVER AGAIN BE FORCED
TO ENDURE YOUR YEARS IN AGONY.
THIS POLICY WAS NOT WITHOUT RISK. STICKING WITH IT
WAS NEVER EASY -- ESPECIALLY FOR A COUNTRY THAT CARES
S0 DEEPLY ABOUT EVERY AMERICAN HELD AGAINST HIS WILL.
/ BUT WE HAVE LEARNED THAT IT WORKS: IT HELPED END
THE AGONY -- IT HELPED BRING YOU HOME. ///
- 12 -
YES, AMERICA DID ITS PART. MANY MEN AND WOMEN IN
THIS COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD -- MOST OF WHOM YOU
WILL NEVER MEET -- WORKED To SECURE YOUR FREEDOM.
TODAY, WE RECOGNIZE THE SELFLESS EFFORTS OF ONE MAN WHO
AT GREAT PERSONAL RISK HELPED BRING YOU TO FREEDOM. IN
HIS YEARS AS SPECIAL ENVOY AT THE UNITED NATIONS,
ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL GIANI PICCO HAS SOUGHT
ALWAYS TO SERVE PEACE AND RESOLVE CONFLICT.
- 13 -
TODAY, FOR HIS EFFORTS IN WINNING THE FREEDOM OF OUR
HOSTAGES, WE HONOR GIANDOMENICO PICCO WITH THE
PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE. [CITATION
READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
WE ALSO HONOR THE MAN WHO MADE YOUR RELEASE HIS
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY -- A MAN WHOSE LIFE WORK IN
SERVICE TO HUMANITARIAN IDEALS HAS WON HIM HONOR THE
WORLD OVER: JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR. //
- 14 -
JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR HAS MADE PEACE AMONG
NATIONS HIS MISSION AND TAKEN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE
UNITED NATIONS CHARTER AS HIS PERSONAL CODE. HE WAS
PRESENT AT THE CREATION: AS A DELEGATE TO THE FIRST
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UN IN 1946. WE FIRST MET IN
1971, WHEN EACH OF US RECEIVED THE SINGULAR HONOR OF
SERVING OUR COUNTRIES AS PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO
THE UNITED NATIONS. MY DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUE WENT ON
TO REPRESENT PERU IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL.
- 15 -
FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, HE HAS SERVED THE CAUSE OF
WORLD PEACE AS SECRETARY-GENERAL.
HIS TENURE HAS MARKED THE REBIRTH OF THE UN -- ITS
EMERGENCE AS A FORCE FOR PEACE. COOPERATION NOW
REPLACES COLD WAR CONFLICT -- AND ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE
UN NOW LEADS THE INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO RESOLVE
CONFLICTS THAT HAVE CAUSED so MUCH SUFFERING.
PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS HAVE PROLIFERATED -- 11 ARE
UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW, 5 BEGUN IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE. //
- 16 -
MR. Secretary-General, I AM PERSONALLY GRATEFUL FOR
YOUR STRONG STAND AGAINST IRAQ'S BRUTAL ASSAULT ON
KUWAIT -- AND YOUR TIRELESS WORK TO SUSTAIN THE
COALITION. IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP,
THE UNITED NATIONS NOW STANDS CLOSER TO ITS FOUNDING
IDEAL THAN EVER BEFORE. //
TODAY, WE HONOR THIS ARCHITECT OF PEACE -- A MAN I
AM PROUD TO CALL MY FRIEND.
- 17 -
MR. SECRETARY GENERAL: WITH GREAT PRIDE, I NOW PRESENT
TO YOU THE HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR THIS COUNTRY CAN
BESTOW: THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM. [CITATION READ --
PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
FINALLY, I WANT To PRESENT A SIMPLE GIFT -- THIS
ONE TO ToM SUTHERLAND. THERE ARE THOUSANDS MORE LIKE
IT ACROSS AMERICA -- EACH ONE A SYMBOL OF THE PROFOUND
BONDS AMERICANS SHARE. // IT WAS SENT TO ME BY LYNNE
VINCENT, A TEACHER IN NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA.
- 18 -
FOR FIVE YEARS, SHE WORE A BRACELET INSCRIBED WITH YOUR
NAME. ON THE DAY OF YOUR RELEASE, SHE WROTE: "I
WANTED YOU TO HAVE MY BRACELET so YOU WOULD KNOW YOU
WERE ALWAYS IN THE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS OF MANY
AMERICANS." //
ON THE SIDE OF THIS SIMPLE BAND ARE THE WORDS
"HEBREWS 13:3." THE VERSE READS AS FOLLOWS: "REMEMBER
THOSE WHO ARE IN BONDS AS IF YOU WERE BOUND WITH THEM."
- 19 -
WE REMEMBERED -- WE KEPT YOU IN OUR THOUGHTS AND
PRAYERS -- AND IN THE END, THE CHAINS THAT HELD YOU
PROVED NO MATCH FOR THE BONDS THAT UNITE ALL AMERICANS.
//
TODAY THOSE OPEN ARMS WELCOME ALL OF YOU HOME. MAY
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
- 13 -
TODAY, FOR HIS EFFORTS IN WINNING THE FREEDOM OF OUR
HOSTAGES, WE HONOR GIANDOMENICO PICCO WITH THE
PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE.
[CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
- 14 -
WE ALSO HONOR THE MAN WHO MADE YOUR RELEASE HIS
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY -- A MAN WHOSE LIFE WORK IN
SERVICE TO HUMANITARIAN IDEALS HAS WON HIM HONOR THE
WORLD OVER: JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR. //
JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR HAS MADE PEACE AMONG
NATIONS HIS MISSION AND TAKEN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE
UNITED NATIONS CHARTER AS HIS PERSONAL CODE. HE WAS
PRESENT AT THE CREATION: AS A DELEGATE TO THE FIRST
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UN IN 1946.
- 15 -
WE FIRST MET IN 1971, WHEN EACH OF US RECEIVED THE
SINGULAR HONOR OF SERVING OUR COUNTRIES AS PERMANENT
REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS. MY DISTINGUISHED
COLLEAGUE WENT ON To REPRESENT PERU IN THE SECURITY
COUNCIL. FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, HE HAS SERVED THE
CAUSE OF WORLD PEACE AS SECRETARY-GENERAL
HIS TENURE HAS MARKED THE REBIRTH OF THE UN -- ITS
EMERGENCE AS A FORCE FOR PEACE.
- 16 -
COOPERATION NOW REPLACES COLD WAR CONFLICT -- AND
ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE UN NOW LEADS THE INTERNATIONAL
EFFORT TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS THAT HAVE CAUSED so MUCH
SUFFERING. PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS HAVE PROLIFERATED --
11 ARE UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW, 5 BEGUN IN THE PAST YEAR
ALONE. // MR. Secretary-General, I AM PERSONALLY
GRATEFUL FOR YOUR STRONG STAND AGAINST IRAQ'S BRUTAL
ASSAULT ON KUWAIT -- AND YOUR TIRELESS WORK TO SUSTAIN
THE COALITION.
- 17 -
IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP, THE UNITED
NATIONS NOW STANDS CLOSER TO ITS FOUNDING IDEAL THAN
EVER BEFORE. //
TODAY, WE HONOR THIS ARCHITECT OF PEACE -- A MAN I
AM PROUD TO CALL MY FRIEND. MR. SECRETARY GENERAL:
WITH GREAT PRIDE, I NOW PRESENT TO YOU THE HIGHEST
CIVILIAN HONOR THIS COUNTRY CAN BESTOW: THE MEDAL OF
FREEDOM.
[CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
- 18 -
FINALLY, I WANT TO PRESENT A SIMPLE GIFT -- THIS
ONE TO ToM SUTHERLAND. THERE ARE THOUSANDS MORE LIKE
IT ACROSS AMERICA -- EACH ONE A SYMBOL OF THE PROFOUND
BONDS AMERICANS SHARE. // IT WAS SENT TO ME BY LYNNE
VINCENT, A TEACHER IN NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA. FOR FIVE
YEARS, SHE WORE A BRACELET INSCRIBED WITH YOUR NAME.
ON THE DAY OF YOUR RELEASE, SHE WROTE: "I WANTED YOU
To HAVE MY BRACELET so YOU WOULD KNOW YOU WERE ALWAYS
IN THE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS OF MANY AMERICANS." //
- 19 -
ON THE SIDE OF THIS SIMPLE BAND ARE THE WORDS
"HEBREWS 13:3." THE VERSE READS AS FOLLOWS: "REMEMBER
THOSE WHO ARE IN BONDS AS IF YOU WERE BOUND WITH THEM."
WE REMEMBERED -- WE KEPT YOU IN OUR THOUGHTS AND
PRAYERS -- AND IN THE END, THE CHAINS THAT HELD YOU
PROVED NO MATCH FOR THE BONDS THAT UNITE ALL AMERICANS.
//
TODAY THOSE OPEN ARMS WELCOME ALL OF YOU HOME. MAY
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM \ THE EAST ROOM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1991 \ 5:00 P.M.
GOOD AFTERNOON. BARBARA AND I ARE HAPPY TO BE HERE
WITH VICE PRESIDENT AND MRS. QUAYLE; WITH SEVERAL
MEMBERS OF MY CABINET: JIM BAKER, BoB MOSBACHER, LYNN
MARTIN. //
WE ARE JOINED TODAY BY TWO GENTLEMEN WHO REPRESENT
OUR HIGHEST HUMANITARIAN IDEALS: UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL
GIANDOMENICO Picco. //
- 2 -
LET ME ALSO WELCOME TO THE WHITE HOUSE THE FRIENDS AND
FAMILIES OF FIVE SPECIAL MEN RETURNED TO FREEDOM. /
FINALLY, TO THOMAS SUTHERLAND / ALANN STEEN / JESSE
TURNER / JOSEPH CICIPPIO / AND TERRY ANDERSON: LET ME
SIMPLY SAY: WELCOME HOME. //
ALL OVER AMERICA, PEOPLE WAITED FOR THE DAY YOUR
LONG ORDEAL WOULD END. ALL OVER AMERICA, WE SHARE YOUR
JOY: WE THANK GOD THAT YOU ARE FREE. //
- 3 -
NOTHING SAYS IT BETTER THAN THE SIGN BACK IN
NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, IN THOMAS CICIPPIO'S FRONT
YARD. FOR FIVE LONG YEARS, THAT SIGN SERVED AS A
CONSTANT REMINDER: WITH THE NAME OF EACH HOSTAGE --
AND A NUMBER COUNTING EACH CRUEL DAY OF CAPTIVITY.
THEN, ONE BY ONE, THE NUMBERS GAVE WAY TO A SIGN MARKED
"FREED." FINALLY, JUST NINE DAYS AGO, CAME THE MOMENT
THE CICIPPIO FAMILY PRAYED FOR.
T
- 4 -
OVER JOSEPH'S NAME, THEY NAILED NOT ANOTHER NUMBER, BUT
A SIGN, THAT READ: "FREE AT LAST."
ALL OF YOU HAVE SURVIVED AN ACT OF UNSPEAKABLE,
UNCIVILIZED CRUELTY. HOSTAGE-TAKING IS HELL ON A HUMAN
SCALE -- NOT JUST FOR THE INNOCENTS HELD CAPTIVE, BUT
FOR THE FAMILIES THEY LEFT BEHIND. /
No POWER ON EARTH CAN GIVE BACK THE YEARS YOU HAVE
LOST. YET NO ONE CAN TAKE FROM YOU THE STRENGTH OF
SPIRIT THAT SUSTAINED YOU.
- 5 -
THE WORLD IS NOW LEARNING THE HORRORS YOU ENDURED. BUT
WE'RE LEARNING AS WELL THE STORY OF YOUR SURVIVAL --
THE MIRACLE YOU FASHIONED FROM THE HOPE YOUR CAPTORS
COULD NOT TAKE AWAY. //
WE KNOW NOW HOW YOU USED THE LANGUAGE OF THE DEAF
TO COMMUNICATE FROM CELL TO CELL -- TO SPEAK TO ONE
ANOTHER IN SILENCE; HOW YOU MANAGED TO LEARN FROM ONE
ANOTHER -- LAUGH WITH ONE ANOTHER -- HELP EACH OTHER
SUSTAIN A STUBBORN DIGNITY. //
- 6 -
You DEMONSTRATED EACH DAY IN CAPTIVITY A DEFIANT FAITH.
You BELIEVED IN YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR FAMILIES, YOUR
COLLEAGUES -- AND YOURSELVES. You KNEW, THAT ONE DAY,
YOU WOULD GO FREE. //
YOUR TRIUMPH SHINES NEW LIGHT ON A SIMPLE TRUTH.
THE DAYS AND YEARS APART BURN AWAY THE TRIVIAL THINGS
WE ONCE THOUGHT HAD VALUE -- TO REVEAL WHAT TRULY
MATTERS IN LIFE: FAMILY / FAITH / HOPE AND LOVE.
- 7 -
SEEING FREEDOM THROUGH YOUR EYES -- EVEN FOR A MOMENT
-- FREES US FROM THE PETTY CONCERNS THAT so OFTEN HOLD
US HOSTAGE AND DISTRACT US FROM LIFE'S LARGER JOYS.
///
THE FAMILIES HERE TODAY ARE WHOLE AGAIN. BUT FOR
OTHERS, THE ORDEAL IS NOT OVER: FOR TWO GERMAN
CITIZENS AND THEIR FAMILIES -- FOR THE FAMILIES OF TWO
COURAGEOUS AMERICANS WHOSE DUTY SENT THEM TO LEBANON
AND WHO DIED AT THE HANDS OF THEIR CAPTORS.
- 8 -
IN THE NAME OF THE CIVILIZED VALUES WE HOLD DEAR, I
CALL ON THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CRIMES: FREE
HEINRICH STRUEBIG AND THOMAS KEMPTNER. RETURN THE
REMAINS OF RICH HIGGINS AND WILLIAM BUCKLEY. LET THE
FAMILIES OF THESE INNOCENT MEN FIND PEACE. ///
THE TRUTH IS CLEAR: HOSTAGE-TAKING HAS FAILED.
FROM THE BEGINNING IN TEHRAN IN 1979, HOSTAGE-TAKERS
SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT OUR SYSTEM'S REVERENCE FOR THE
INDIVIDUAL AS A WEAKNESS. //
- 9 -
YOUR CAPTORS BELIEVED HOSTAGE-TAKING WOULD TIE OUR
HANDS. THEY WERE WRONG. WE REMAIN DETERMINED TO
DEFEND AMERICAN INTERESTS AND INTERNATIONAL PRINCIPLES
IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THROUGH DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT
STORM, WE STOOD FAST AGAINST AGGRESSION. WE SHOWED THE
WORLD: TERRORISM IN ALL ITS FORMS CANNOT SUCCEED. //
IN THE END, THE HOSTAGE-TAKERS DID MORE DAMAGE TO
THEIR CAUSE THAN THEY DID TO AMERICAN RESOLVE.
- 10 -
IN THE END, EACH HOSTAGE-TAKING -- EACH HEARTLESS ACT
AGAINST INNOCENTS -- ANNOUNCED TO THE WORLD THE
INHUMANITY OF THE CAPTORS.
ToM SUTHERLAND AND TERRY ANDERSON -- YOU WERE RIGHT
WHEN YOU SAID NO TO NEGOTIATING WITH HOSTAGE-TAKERS.
THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS FOLLOWED A NO-NEGOTIATION
POLICY SINCE THE BEGINNING. BARGAINING SERVES ONLY TO
MAKE A CURRENCY OF HUMAN LIVES -- AND LEADS TO MORE OF
THE EVIL IT SEEKS TO END.
- 11 -
I AM CONVINCED THAT THIS COURSE REMAINS THE WORLD'S
BEST HOPE THAT NO MORE INNOCENT MEN AND WOMEN WILL MEET
YOUR FATE -- THAT NO FAMILY WILL EVER AGAIN BE FORCED
TO ENDURE YOUR YEARS IN AGONY.
THIS POLICY WAS NOT WITHOUT RISK. STICKING WITH IT
WAS NEVER EASY -- ESPECIALLY FOR A COUNTRY THAT CARES
so DEEPLY ABOUT EVERY AMERICAN HELD AGAINST HIS WILL.
/ BUT WE HAVE LEARNED THAT IT WORKS: IT HELPED END
THE AGONY -- IT HELPED BRING YOU HOME. ///
- 12 -
YES, AMERICA DID ITS PART. MANY MEN AND WOMEN IN
THIS COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD -- MOST OF WHOM YOU
WILL NEVER MEET -- WORKED To SECURE YOUR FREEDOM.
TODAY, WE RECOGNIZE THE SELFLESS EFFORTS OF ONE MAN WHO
AT GREAT PERSONAL RISK HELPED BRING YOU TO FREEDOM. IN
HIS YEARS AS SPECIAL ENVOY AT THE UNITED NATIONS,
ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL GIANI PICCO HAS SOUGHT
ALWAYS TO SERVE PEACE AND RESOLVE CONFLICT.
- 13 -
TODAY, FOR HIS EFFORTS IN WINNING THE FREEDOM OF OUR
HOSTAGES, WE HONOR GIANDOMENICO PICCO WITH THE
PRESIDENTIAL AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE. [CITATION
READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
WE ALSO HONOR THE MAN WHO MADE YOUR RELEASE HIS
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY -- A MAN WHOSE LIFE WORK IN
SERVICE TO HUMANITARIAN IDEALS HAS WON HIM HONOR THE
WORLD OVER: JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR. //
- 14 -
JAVIER PEREZ DE CUELLAR HAS MADE PEACE AMONG
NATIONS HIS MISSION AND TAKEN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE
UNITED NATIONS CHARTER AS HIS PERSONAL CODE. HE WAS
PRESENT AT THE CREATION: AS A DELEGATE TO THE FIRST
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UN IN 1946. WE FIRST MET IN
1971, WHEN EACH OF US RECEIVED THE SINGULAR HONOR OF
SERVING OUR COUNTRIES AS PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO
THE UNITED NATIONS. MY DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUE WENT ON
TO REPRESENT PERU IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL.
- 15 -
FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, HE HAS SERVED THE CAUSE OF
WORLD PEACE AS SECRETARY-GENERAL.
HIS TENURE HAS MARKED THE REBIRTH OF THE UN -- ITS
EMERGENCE AS A FORCE FOR PEACE. COOPERATION NOW
REPLACES COLD WAR CONFLICT -- AND ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE
UN NOW LEADS THE INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO RESOLVE
CONFLICTS THAT HAVE CAUSED so MUCH SUFFERING.
PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS HAVE PROLIFERATED -- 11 ARE
UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW, 5 BEGUN IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE. //
- 16 -
MR. Secretary-General, I AM PERSONALLY GRATEFUL FOR
YOUR STRONG STAND AGAINST IRAQ'S BRUTAL ASSAULT ON
KUWAIT -- AND YOUR TIRELESS WORK TO SUSTAIN THE
COALITION. IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP,
THE UNITED NATIONS NOW STANDS CLOSER TO ITS FOUNDING
IDEAL THAN EVER BEFORE. //
TODAY, WE HONOR THIS ARCHITECT OF PEACE -- A MAN I
AM PROUD TO CALL MY FRIEND.
- 17 -
MR. SECRETARY GENERAL: WITH GREAT PRIDE, I NOW PRESENT
TO YOU THE HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR THIS COUNTRY CAN
BESTOW: THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM. [CITATION READ --
PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
FINALLY, I WANT TO PRESENT A SIMPLE GIFT -- THIS
ONE TO ToM SUTHERLAND. THERE ARE THOUSANDS MORE LIKE
IT ACROSS AMERICA -- EACH ONE A SYMBOL OF THE PROFOUND
BONDS AMERICANS SHARE. // IT WAS SENT TO ME BY LYNNE
VINCENT, A TEACHER IN NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA.
- 18 -
FOR FIVE YEARS, SHE WORE A BRACELET INSCRIBED WITH YOUR
NAME. ON THE DAY OF YOUR RELEASE, SHE WROTE: "I
WANTED YOU TO HAVE MY BRACELET so YOU WOULD KNOW YOU
WERE ALWAYS IN THE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS OF MANY
AMERICANS." //
ON THE SIDE OF THIS SIMPLE BAND ARE THE WORDS
"HEBREWS 13:3." THE VERSE READS AS FOLLOWS: "REMEMBER
THOSE WHO ARE IN BONDS AS IF YOU WERE BOUND WITH THEM."
- 19 -
WE REMEMBERED -- WE KEPT YOU IN OUR THOUGHTS AND
PRAYERS -- AND IN THE END, THE CHAINS THAT HELD YOU
PROVED NO MATCH FOR THE BONDS THAT UNITE ALL AMERICANS.
//
TODAY THOSE OPEN ARMS WELCOME ALL OF YOU HOME. MAY
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
# # #
292454
Document No.
CLOSE HOLD
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
12/11/91
----
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM, 12/12
SUBJECT:
(12/11 5:15 p.m. draft)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
V
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
>
MCBRIDE
CARD
FIRESTONE
DEMAREST
PORTER ROSE
FITZWATER
SNOW
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
01 DEC P5: 32
December 11, 1991
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVE DEMAREST
TONY SNOW T5
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY moh
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED REMARKS FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE MEDAL
OF FREEDOM TO SECRETARY-GENERAL JAVIER PEREZ
DE CUELLAR
I. SUMMARY
On Thursday, December 12, 1991 at 5:00 p.m. you will deliver
remarks in the East Room to welcome our returning hostages. You
will also present the Medal of Freedom to United Nations
Secretary-General Javier Perez De Cuellar, and the Presidential
Award for Exceptional Service to Assistant Secretary-General
Giandomenico Picco. Each hostage will be accompanied by several
family members.
II. DISCUSSION
Your remarks (approximately 10 minutes / cards) welcome home
the recently freed American hostages, restate our no-negotiations
policy, and pay tribute to the tireless efforts of Secretary-
General De Cuellar and Assistant Secretary-General Picco.
The bracelet, referenced in the text, (p. 5) was worn by
Lynne Vincent for five years in honor of Thomas Sutherland. She
wrote asking you to see that it be returned to him.
McGroarty/Bunton
December 11, 1991
5:15 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
5:00 P.M.
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Assistant
Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco. // Let me also welcome to
the White House the friends and families of five special men
returned to freedom. / Finally, to Thomas Sutherland / Alann
Steen / Jesse Turner / Joseph Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let
me simply say: welcome home. //
All over America, people waited for the day your long ordeal
would end. All over America, we share your joy: we thank God
that you are free. //
Nothing says it better than the sign back in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, in Thomas Cicippio's front yard. For five long
years, that sign served as a constant reminder: with the name of
each hostage -- a number counting each cruel day. Then, one by
one, the numbers gave way to a sign marked "FREED." Finally,
just nine days ago, came the moment the Cicippio family prayed
for. Over Joseph's name, they nailed not another number, but a
sign, that read: "FREE AT LAST."
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. Hostage-taking is hell on a human scale -- not just for
the innocents held captive, but for the families they left
behind. /
2
No power on earth can give back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is now learning the horrors you
endured. But we're learning as well the story of your survival -
- the miracle you fashioned from the hope your captors could not
take away. //
We know now how you used the language of the deaf to
communicate from cell to cell -- to speak to one another in
silence; how you managed to learn from one another -- laugh with
one another -- help each other sustain a stubborn dignity. //
You demonstrated each day in captivity a defiant faith. You
believed in your country, your families, your colleagues -- and
yourselves. You knew, that one day, you would go free. //
Your triumph shines new light on a simple truth. The days
and years apart burn away the trivial things we once thought had
value -- to reveal what truly matters in life: family / faith /
hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes -- even for a
moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so often hold us
hostage and distract us from life's larger joys. ///
The families here today are whole again. But for others,
the ordeal is not over: for two German citizens and their
families -- for the families of two courageous Americans whose
duty sent them to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their
captors. In the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I
call on those responsible for these crimes: Free Heinrich
Struebig and Thomas Kemptner. Return the remains of Rich Higgins
3
and William Buckley. Let the families of these innocent men find
peace. ///////
The truth is clear: Hostage-taking has failed. From the
beginning in Tehran in 1979, hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
They were wrong. We remain determined to defend American
interests and international principles in the Middle East.
Through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, we stood fast against
aggression. We showed the world: terrorism in all its forms
cannot succeed. //
In the end, the hostage-takers did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve. In the end, each
hostage-taking -- each heartless act against innocents --
announced to the world the inhumanity of the captors.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson -- you were right when you
said no to negotiating with hostage-takers. This Administration
has followed a no-negotiation policy since the beginning.
Bargaining serves only to make a currency of human lives -- and
leads to more of the evil it seeks to end. I am convinced that
this course remains the world's best hope that no more innocent
men and women will meet your fate -- that no family will ever
again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risk. Sticking with it was
never easy -- especially for a country that cares so deeply about
NSC change
C.Stettner
4
x5066
every American held against his will. / But we have learned
helped
helped bing
9 Am
that it works: It ended the agony -- it brought you home. /// 12/12
Yes, America did its part. Many men and women in this
country and around the world -- most of whom you will never meet
-- worked to secure your freedom. Today, we recognize the
selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his years as special envoy at the
United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Giani Picco has
sought always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for
his efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
his
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade
responsibility
a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the creation: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Permanent Representative to the United
Nations. My distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in
the Security Council. For the past ten years, he has served the
cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
5
His tenure has marked the rebirth of the UN -- its emergence
as a force for peace. Cooperation now replaces Cold War conflict
-- and across the globe, the UN now leads the international
effort to resolve conflicts that have caused so much suffering.
Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 are underway right
now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr. Secretary-General,
I am personally grateful for your strong stand against Iraq's
brutal assault on Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain the
coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the United
Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever before.
//
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man I am proud
to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General: with great pride, I
now present to you the highest civilian honor this country can
bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL.]
Finally, I want to present a simple gift -- this one to Tom
Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across America --
each one a symbol of the profound bonds Americans share. // It
was sent to me by Lynne Vincent, a teacher in Northridge,
California. For five years, she wore a bracelet inscribed with
your name. On the day of your release, she wrote: "I wanted you
to have my bracelet so you would know you were always in the
thoughts and prayers of many Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrews
13:3." The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in
6
bonds as if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept
you in our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains
that held you proved no match for the bonds that unite all
Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
^
United States of America.
# # #
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1991
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVE DEMAREST
TONY SNOW TS
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY smoth
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED REMARKS FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE MEDAL
OF FREEDOM TO SECRETARY-GENERAL JAVIER PEREZ
DE CUELLAR
I. SUMMARY
On Thursday, December 12, 1991 at 5:00 p.m. you will deliver
remarks in the East Room to welcome our returning hostages. You
will also present the Medal of Freedom to United Nations
Secretary-General Javier Perez De Cuellar, and the Presidential
Award for Exceptional Service to Assistant Secretary-General
Giandomenico Picco. Each hostage will be accompanied by several
family members.
II. DISCUSSION
Your remarks (approximately 10 minutes / cards) welcome home
the recently freed American hostages, restate our no-negotiations
policy, and pay tribute to the tireless efforts of Secretary-
General De Cuellar and Assistant Secretary-General Picco.
The bracelet, referenced in the text, (p. 5) was worn by
Lynne Vincent for five years in honor of Thomas Sutherland. She
wrote asking you to see that it be returned to him.
McGroarty/Bunton
December 11, 1991
5:15 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
5:00 P.M.
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Assistant
Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco. // Let me also welcome to
the White House the friends and families of five special men
returned to freedom. / Finally, to Thomas Sutherland / Alann
Steen / Jesse Turner / Joseph Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let
me simply say: welcome home. //
All over America, people waited for the day your long ordeal
would end. All over America, we share your joy: we thank God
that you are free. //
Nothing says it better than the sign back in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, in Thomas Cicippio's front yard. For five long
years, that sign served as a constant reminder: with the name of
each hostage -- a number counting each cruel day. Then, one by
one, the numbers gave way to a sign marked "FREED." Finally,
just nine days ago, came the moment the Cicippio family prayed
for. Over Joseph's name, they nailed not another number, but a
sign, that read: "FREE AT LAST."
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. Hostage-taking is hell on a human scale -- not just for
the innocents held captive, but for the families they left
behind. /
2
No power on earth can give back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is now learning the horrors you
endured. But we're learning as well the story of your survival -
- the miracle you fashioned from the hope your captors could not
take away. //
We know now how you used the language of the deaf to
communicate from cell to cell -- to speak to one another in
silence; how you managed to learn from one another -- laugh with
one another -- help each other sustain a stubborn dignity. //
You demonstrated each day in captivity a defiant faith. You
believed in your country, your families, your colleagues -- and
yourselves. You knew, that one day, you would go free. //
Your triumph shines new light on a simple truth. The days
and years apart burn away the trivial things we once thought had
value -- to reveal what truly matters in life: family / faith /
hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes -- even for a
moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so often hold us
hostage and distract us from life's larger joys. ///
The families here today are whole again. But for others,
the ordeal is not over: for two German citizens and their
families -- for the families of two courageous Americans whose
duty sent them to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their
captors. In the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I
call on those responsible for these crimes: Free Heinrich
Struebig and Thomas Kemptner. Return the remains of Rich Higgins
3
and William Buckley. Let the families of these innocent men find
peace. ///
The truth is clear: Hostage-taking has failed. From the
beginning in Tehran in 1979, hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
They were wrong. We remain determined to defend American
interests and international principles in the Middle East.
Through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, we stood fast against
aggression. We showed the world: terrorism in all its forms
cannot succeed. / /
In the end, the hostage-takers did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve. In the end, each
hostage-taking -- each heartless act against innocents --
announced to the world the inhumanity of the captors.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson -- you were right when you
said no to negotiating with hostage-takers. This Administration
has followed a no-negotiation policy since the beginning.
Bargaining serves only to make a currency of human lives -- and
leads to more of the evil it seeks to end. I am convinced that
this course remains the world's best hope that no more innocent
men and women will meet your fate -- that no family will ever
again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risk. Sticking with it was
never easy -- especially for a country that cares so deeply about
4
every American held against his will. / But we have learned
that it works: It ended the agony -- it brought you home. ///
Yes, America did its part. Many men and women in this
country and around the world -- most of whom you will never meet
-- worked to secure your freedom. Today, we recognize the
selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his years as special envoy at the
United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Giani Picco has
sought always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for
his efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the creation: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Permanent Representative to the United
Nations. My distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in
the Security Council. For the past ten years, he has served the
cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
5
His tenure has marked the rebirth of the UN -- its emergence
as a force for peace. Cooperation now replaces Cold War conflict
-- and across the globe, the UN now leads the international
effort to resolve conflicts that have caused so much suffering.
Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 are underway right
now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr. Secretary-General,
I am personally grateful for your strong stand against Iraq's
brutal assault on Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain the
coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the United
Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever before.
//
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man I am proud
to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General: with great pride, I
now present to you the highest civilian honor this country can
bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present a simple gift -- this one to Tom
Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across America --
each one a symbol of the profound bonds Americans share. // It
was sent to me by Lynne Vincent, a teacher in Northridge,
California. For five years, she wore a bracelet inscribed with
your name. On the day of your release, she wrote: "I wanted you
to have my bracelet so you would know you were always in the
thoughts and prayers of many Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrews
13:3." The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in
6
bonds as if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept
you in our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains
that held you proved no match for the bonds that unite all
Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
CaRolyn: FYI
URGENT
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT STAFFING DOCUMENT
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Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENTAV REMARKS4
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M.??
5:00 Pm
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
seo
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
and,As Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
also
General Javier Perez de Cuellar.
Let me, welcome to the White
Five
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
yes
Jesse Turner
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage
as a nation
:
NO.
we sufferedy and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale -
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
les
JoAnn Turner and
OBE
they leave behind. Think their of ^ Sulome Anderson, the little girlywe
watched grow up without her dad. ^ Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother A he could not [wish] say goodbye. //
to whom
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
delated
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
denying you your humanity.
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength ^ / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
No NOT
country /
family / faith 1л hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
Patrior
push
even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
ee
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
United States
throughout your imprisonment, the
followed a single policy:
urn Heinrich and
mptner;
rusbing
Times
seensent.
3
legitimate
ursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
te with terrorists.
nderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
ou can't give them anything." // Bargaining
sti, For ,a11
mar Ketplace
reate a kind of currency) in human lives.
A united of
you
orld's best hope that no more
innocent men or women WOULD meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
Some mistook our discipline For disinterest They were wrong.)
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international principles [ideals] in the Middle East. Through
Shield to Desert
stood Fast
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand)
against aggression -- [and for the principles that promise a just
in the process making clear to one and all that terroris
(revisud
In any Form would not succeed.
and lasting peace in the Middle East.
//
a resolute
Yes, 1 America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
United Nations
bring you to freedom. In his [ten] years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Giani Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal responsibilin
No
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the (founding: creation as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
Permanent Representative
serving our countries as Ambassader) to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council, [and serve as its President For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-Generalof the United
NO
Nation
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
and the personal efforts of Javier Perez de Cullar,
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices, ^
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 [overall
are underway
in action) right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
revised
against aggression Iragi in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. // In laige part because of your wisdom and understand
?
Javier, we are embanked an a world when the pillars are place and
security, human rights, social progress and better standards
of liFe . If
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3." "
No-
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
all of
if you were bound with them." We remembered -- we kept you in
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
INSERT
BEFORE I BEGIN, LET ME COMMENT BRIEFLY ON A VERY
GRATIFYING DEVELOPMENT: WITH TERRY ANDERSON'S RELEASE,
ALL THE SURVIVING AMERICANS WHO HAD BEEN HELD HOSTAGE
BY TERROR GROUPS IN LEBANON ARE FREE. ALL AMERICANS
SHARE IN THE JOY OF THOSE WHO HAVE REGAINED THEIR
FREEDOM. OUR JOY MINGLES WITH SAD REMEMBRANCE OF
WILLIAM BUCKLEY AND COL. RICH HIGGINS, WHO WERE
BRUTALLY MURDERED BY THEIR CAPTORS.
THEIR SUFFERING HAS NOT BEEN IN VAIN. CIVILIZED
PEOPLE EVERYWHERE ARE REVULSED BY HOSTAGE-TAKING,
MURDER AND TORTURE.
- 2 -
THE TERRORISTS' COWARDLY ACTION DID NOT DEMORALIZE US,
IT SERVED TO STEEL OUR RESOLVE. DURING THE GULF
CRISIS, WE SENT THAT MESSAGE TO ANY WOULD-BE AGGRESSOR
OR TERRORIST OR TYRANT IN MIDDLE EAST MORE CLEARLY THAN
EVER BEFORE. AMERICANS JOINED ARABS, AFRICANS, ASIANS,
AND EUROPEANS IN A GLOBAL COALITION TO DEFEND
INTERNATIONAL ORDER AND CIVILIZED VALUES.
AMERICA WILL STAY ENGAGED IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
- 3 -
WE'RE WORKING TO BRING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEACE TO
FRUITION. THE RELEASE OF THE LAST AMERICAN HOSTAGE
SHOULD SIGNIFY ANOTHER MILESTONE ALONG THE PATH WE ARE
COMMITTED To TRAVEL -- TO HALT TERROR AND VIOLENCE, TO
FOSTER PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
#
# #
NSC Revised 2 350 pm
Reall,
For all of you here the nightmare has ended; but, for others it
still continues -- for two German citizens and their families,
and for two families of courageous Americans whose duty sent them
91
to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their captors. In the
name of the civilized values all Christians and Muslims hold in
common, I call on those responsible for these crimes: Free
Heinrich Struebig and Thomas Kemptner; return the remains of Rich
Higgins and of William Buckley. Let these innocent families be
at peace.
Hostage taking has not been successful. From the beginning in
Teheran in 1979 the purpose was to force us to negotiate for
release by exploiting noble values that are deeply rooted in all
Americans; respect for the individual person and a desire to end
the suffering of innocents.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson, you were both right when on
your release you said no to negotiating with hostage holders.
This administration has followed a no-negotiation policy since
its beginning. Bargaining makes a base currency of human lives,
and leads to more of the evil it seeks to end.
It is not an easy policy, and it has not been without risk. But
it is the most humane one and it offers the best hope that no
more innocents will share the fate that befell you, that no more
families will again be forced to endure such long years of agony.
We have learned that it works; it brought you home; it ended the
agony. In the end, the hostage holders did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve.
RS @Retyped
For all of you here the nightmare has ended; but, for others it
continues -- for two German citizens and their families, and for
two families of courageous Americans whose duty sent them to
Lebanon and who died at the hands of their captors. In the name
of the civilized values all Christian and Muslims hold in common,
I call on those responsible for these crimes: Free Heinreich
Struebig and Thomas Kemptner; return the remains of Rich Higgins
and of William Buckley. Let these innocent families be at peace.
of these immocen
Hostage taking has not been successful. From the beginning in
Teheran in 1979 the purpose was to force us to negotiate for
place
release by exploiting noble values that are deeply rooted in all
Americans; respect for the individual person and a desire to end
the suffering of innocents. But, we learned -- at some cost it
must be said -- that making deals with terrorists is a mistake.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson, you were both right when on
your release you said no to negotiating with hostage holders.
This administration has followed that policy since the beginning.
We have not negotiated with your captors. Bargaining makes a
base currency of human lives, and leads to more of the evil it
seeks to end. An apparently cruel -- but in fact, most humane -
- approach of not negotiating is now recognized as the best hope
that no more innocent men and women will share the fate that
befell you, that no more families will again be forced to endure
such long years of agony.
This policy has not been without risk. Sticking to it was never
easy, especially in a democracy that is proud to hold high those values
noble values of individual freedom and human rights. But we have
learned that it works; it brought you home; it ended the agony.
In the end, the hostage holders did more damage to their cause
than they did to American resolve. In the end, the hostage
holders have diminished themselves for their cruelty and
inhumanity to innocent civilians.
NSCO
here the nightmare has ended; but, for others it
The continues for two German citizens and their families,
and for two families of courageous Americans whose duty sent them
to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their captors. In the
name of the civilized values all Christians and Muslims hold in
common, I call on those responsible for these crimes: Free
Heinrich Struebig and Thomas Kemptner; return the remains of Rich
Higgins and of William Buckley. Let these innocent families be
at peace.
Hostage taking has not been successful. From the beginning in
Teheran in 1979 the purpose was to force us to negotiate for
release by exploiting noble values that are deeply rooted in all
Americans; reverience for the individual person and a desire to
NSC
end the suffering of innocents. But, we learned -- at some cost
it must be said -- that making deals with terrorists is a
mistake.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson, you were both right when on
your release you said no to negotiating with hostage holders.
This administration has followed that policy since the beginning.
We have not negotiated with your captors. Bargaining makes a
base currency of human lives, and leads to more of the evil it
seeks to end. An apparently cruel -- but in fact, most humane --
approach of not negotiating is now recognized as the best hope
that no more innocent men and women will share the fate that
befell you, that no more families will again be forced to endure
such long years of agony.
This policy was sometimes not well understood of followed, and
has not been without risk. Sticking to it was never easy,
especially in a democracy that is proud to hold high those noble
values of individual freedom and human rights. But we have
learned that it works; it brought you home; it ended the agony.
In the end, the hostage holders did more damage to their cause
35tine
than they did to American resolve. In the end, the hostage
holders have dimished themselves for their cruelty and inhumanity
to innocent civilians.
insert
prihs up language from draft,
batlengthens.
Extra Copy Extra Copy
For all of you here the nightmare has ended; but, for others it
still continues -- for two German citizens and their families,
and for two families of courageous Americans whose duty sent them
to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their captors. In the
name of the civilized values all Christians and Muslims hold in
common, I call on those responsible for these crimes: Free
Heinrich Struebig and Thomas Kemptner; return the remains of Rich
Higgins and of William Buckley. Let these innocent families be
at peace.
Hostage taking has not been successful. From the beginning in
Teheran in 1979 the purpose was to force us to negotiate for
release by exploiting noble values that are deeply rooted in all
Americans; respect for the individual person and a desire to end
the suffering of innocents.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson, you were both right when on
your release you said no to negotiating with hostage holders.
This administration has followed a no-negotiation policy since
its beginning. Bargaining makes a base currency of human lives,
and leads to more of the evil it seeks to end.
It is not an easy policy, and it has not been without risk. But
it is the most humane one and it offers the best hope that no
more innocents will share the fate that befell you, that no more
families will again be forced to endure such long years of agony.
We have learned that it works; it brought you home; it ended the
agony. In the end, the hostage holders did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve.
Admiral Howe's revisions to insert for
Prendent's UN/Hostage meeting Speech.
Cardyn Steltner
5066.
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 DEC 10 P6: 20
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE NC
SCOWCROFT
Stettner
5066
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN N/C
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
N/C
CARD
MCBRIDE
*
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY Lademather 4026 Mc
HOLIDAY NL
REMARKS:
DAVID D does
Please forward 1
no later than 1(
plan to comment. DMR
ly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. The
RESPONSE:
Sigt Roger
- MASTER- -
(sans D2 + Scowcroft)
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS?
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M.??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
we, (Rogich)
with us. When each of you were taken hostage --^as. a nation --
wer suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases missed -
holidays (Rogich)
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of A unspeakable, uncivilized
which envelops (Portel)
x
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale
(Portye)
(Porter)
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
OBE
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
OF (Rpgich)
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. //
impede our ability
XNO
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
to take decisive
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American actions
(Portee)
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
Mention
?
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
Terry te?
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3."
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as,
X
if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept you in
allot (eogich)
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 DEC 11 All : 35.
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
Tay 1 Dan-
Two mina comments.
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Thanks
Assistant to the President
CLOSE HOLD
Jr.
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
REMARKS4
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M.??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage -- as a nation --
we suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
9138
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases holidays missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
Crippio is muslim
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale -
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
Today, we honor this architect of peace >ciention a man whom I am
5
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest /honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3."
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept you in
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
THE WHITE HOUSE
December WASHINGTO 11, 1991 N/ DEC 11 Alo: 35
MEMORANDUM FOR TONY SNOW
FROM:
ROGER B. PORTER
RBP
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks: Hostages/De Cuellar Medal
of Freedom
We have reviewed the attached presidential remarks and
have noted a few minor suggested comments on the draft.
If you have any questions or we can be of further
assistance, please let us know.
CC: Phillip D. Brady
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
1
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENTIANO REMARKS4
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M.??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage -- as a nation --
we suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
WHICH ENVELOPS
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale a
-
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for I the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve.
//
IMPEDE OUR ABILITY.
TO TAKE DECISIVE ACTIONS.
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3."
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
if you were bound with them." We remembered -- we kept you in
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
12/11/91 11:36
202 3951039
NSC LEGAL
002
THE WHITE HOUSE
91 DEC II A10 : 38
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1991
MEMORANDUM FOR TONY SNOW
FROM:
STEPHEN G. RADEMAKER SR
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks: Hostages/De Cuellar Medal
of Freedom, The East Room, December 12, 1991
Pursuant to Phillip Brady's request, Counsel's Office has
reviewed the above-referenced matter. We have no legal objection
to the proposed presidential remarks, subject to the changes
recommended by the NSC.
CC: Phillip D. Brady
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 DEC II A10: 19
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE: No comment.
Thanks,
EL
Elizabeth Luttig
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
FITZWATER
SNOW
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
D8
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
OK- a few suggestions.
BJ for SR
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENTEINO
REMARKS4
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M. ??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage -- we, as. a nation --
suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases holidays missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale -
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he- could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
of
sustained you. The world is learning nowvthe horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
Mention
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
Terry
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped Waite
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL.]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3."
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept you in
(all of
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
Seep. 4
Rm122
a couple small
Dan McGroarty/Bunton
chage - the fust
December 11, 1991
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
per Scowcioft guidance, Caroly Stetten
5:15 p.m.
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
5:00 P.M.
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Assistant
Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco. // Let me also welcome to
the White House the friends and families of five special men
returned to freedom.
/
Finally, to Thomas Sutherland / Alann
Steen / Jesse Turner / Joseph Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let
me simply say: welcome home //
All over America, peoplè waited for the day your long ordeal
would end. All over America, we share your joy: we thank God
that you are free. 11
Nothing says it better than the sign back in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, in Thomas Cicippio's front yard. For five long
years, that sign served as a constant reminder: with the name of
each hostage -- a number counting each cruel day. Then, one by
one, the numbers gave way to a sign marked "FREED." Finally,
just nine days ago, came the moment the Cicippio family prayed
for. Over Joseph's name, they nailed not another number, but a
sign, that read: "FREE AT LAST."
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. Hostage-taking is hell on a human scale -- not just for
the innocents held captive, but for the families they left
behind. /
2
No power on earth can give back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is now learning the horrors you
endured. But we're learning as well the story of your survival -
- the miracle you fashioned from the hope your captors could not
take away. //
We know now how you used the language of the deaf to
communicate from cell to cell -- to speak to one another in
silence; how you managed to learn from one another -- laugh with
one another -- help each other sustain a stubborn dignity. //
You demonstrated each day in captivity a defiant faith. You
believed in your country, your families, your colleagues -- and
yourselves. You knew, that one day, you would go free. //
Your triumph shines new light on a simple truth. The days
and years apart burn away the trivial things we once thought had
value -- to reveal what truly matters in life: family / faith /
hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes -- even for a
moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so often hold us
hostage and distract us from life's larger joys. ///
The families here today are whole again. But for others,
the ordeal is not over: for two German citizens and their
families -- for the families of two courageous Americans whose
duty sent them to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their
captors. In the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I
call on those responsible for these crimes: Free Heinrich
Struebig and Thomas Kemptner. Return the remains of Rich Higgins
3
and William Buckley. Let the families of these innocent men find
peace. ///
The truth is clear: Hostage-taking has failed. From the
beginning in Tehran in 1979, hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
They were wrong. We remain determined to defend American
interests and international principles in the Middle East.
Through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, we stood fast against
aggression. We showed the world: terrorism in all its forms
cannot succeed. //
In the end, the hostage-takers did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve. In the end, each
hostage-taking -- each heartless act against innocents --
announced to the world the inhumanity of the captors.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson -- you were right when you
said no to negotiating with hostage-takers. This Administration
has followed a no-negotiation policy since the beginning.
Bargaining serves only to make a currency of human lives -- and
leads to more of the evil it seeks to end. I am convinced that
this course remains the world's best hope that no more innocent
men and women will meet your fate -- that no family will ever
again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risk. Sticking with it was
never easy -- especially for a country that cares so deeply about
helped
4
every American held against his will.
/
But we have learned
that it works: It ended the agony -- it brought you home. ///
Yes, America did its part. Many men and women in this
country and around the world -- most of whom you will never meet
-- worked to secure your freedom. Today, we recognize the
selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his years as special envoy at the
United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Giani Picco has
sought always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for
his efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
responsibility crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the creation: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Permanent Representative to the United
Nations. My distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in
the Security Council. For the past ten years, he has served the
cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
5
His tenure has marked the rebirth of the UN -- its emergence
as a force for peace. Cooperation now replaces Cold War conflict
-- and across the globe, the UN now leads the international
effort to resolve conflicts that have caused so much suffering.
Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 are underway right
now, 5 begun in the past year alone. 11 Mr. Secretary-General,
I am personally grateful for your strong stand against Iraq's
brutal assault on Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain the
coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the United
Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever before.
//
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man I am proud
to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General: with great pride, I
now present to you the highest civilian honor this country can
bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL.]
Finally, I want to present a simple gift -- this one to Tom
Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across America --
each one a symbol of the profound bonds Americans share. // It
was sent to me by Lynne Vincent, a teacher in Northridge,
California. For five years, she wore a bracelet inscribed with
your name. On the day of your release, she wrote: "I wanted you
to have my bracelet so you would know you were always in the
thoughts and prayers of many Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrews
13:3." The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in
6
bonds as if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept
you in our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains
that held you proved no match for the bonds that unite all
Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
CLOSE HOLD
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 DEC 12 A8.
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 12/11/91 10:00 am
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM DECEMBER 12, 1991
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
no Comment
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENCIAL REMARKS?
HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M. ??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage -- as a nation --
we suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale -
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3."
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
if you were bound with them." We remembered -- we kept you in
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
CLOSE HOLD
9020
Document No. 292454ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 DEC 12 A9: 19
DATE:
12/10/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
WED.
1
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL
DOM
THE EAST ROOM - DECEMBER 12,
91
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SUNUNU
MCCLURE
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
ROGICH
BROMLEY
SMITH
CARD
MCBRIDE
DEMAREST
FIRESTONE
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930,
no later than 10:00 a.m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, with a copy to
this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
Mr. Tony Snow:
NSC concurs with the attached as revised.
long. B
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Brent Scowcroft
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
CLOSE HOLD
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Bunton
December 11, 1991
5:15 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
5:00 P.M.
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Assistant
Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco. 11 Let me also welcome to
the White House the friends and families of five special men
returned to freedom. / Finally, to Thomas Sutherland / Alann
Steen / Jesse Turner / Joseph Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let
me simply say: welcome home. //
All over America, people waited for the day your long ordeal
would end. All over America, we share your joy: we thank God
that you are free. //
Nothing says it better than the sign back in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, in Thomas Cicippio's front yard. For five long
years, that sign served as a constant reminder: with the name of
each hostage -- a number counting each cruel day. Then, one by
one, the numbers gave way to a sign marked "FREED." Finally,
just nine days ago, came the moment the Cicippio family prayed
for. Over Joseph's name, they nailed not another number, but a
sign, that read: "FREE AT LAST."
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. Hostage-taking is hell on a human scale -- not just for
the innocents held captive, but for the families they left
behind. /
2
No power on earth can give back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is now learning the horrors you
endured. But we're learning as well the story of your survival -
- the miracle you fashioned from the hope your captors could not
take away. //
We know now how you used the language of the deaf to
communicate from cell to cell -- to speak to one another in
silence; how you managed to learn from one another -- laugh with
one another -- help each other sustain a stubborn dignity. //
You demonstrated each day in captivity a defiant faith. You
believed in your country, your families, your colleagues -- and
yourselves. You knew, that one day, you would go free. //
Your triumph shines new light on a simple truth. The days
and years apart burn away the trivial things we once thought had
value -- to reveal what truly matters in life: family / faith /
hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes -- even for a
moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so often hold us
hostage and distract us from life's larger joys. ///
The families here today are whole again. But for others,
the ordeal is not over: for two German citizens and their
families -- for the families of two courageous Americans whose
duty sent them to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their
captors. In the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I
call on those responsible for these crimes: Free Heinrich
Struebig and Thomas Kemptner. Return the remains of Rich Higgins
3
and William Buckley. Let the families of these innocent men find
peace. ///
The truth is clear: Hostage-taking has failed. From the
beginning in Tehran in 1979, hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
They were wrong. We remain determined to defend American
interests and international principles in the Middle East.
Through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, we stood fast against
aggression. We showed the world: terrorism in all its forms
cannot succeed. //
In the end, the hostage-takers did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve. In the end, each
hostage-taking -- each heartless act against innocents --
announced to the world the inhumanity of the captors.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson -- you were right when you
said no to negotiating with hostage-takers. This Administration
has followed a no-negotiation policy since the beginning.
Bargaining serves only to make a currency of human lives -- and
leads to more of the evil it seeks to end. I am convinced that
this course remains the world's best hope that no more innocent
men and women will meet your fate -- that no family will ever
again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risk. Sticking with it was
never easy -- especially for a country that cares so deeply about
4
every American held against his will. / But we have learned
helped
helped bring
that it works: It ended the agony -- it brought you home. ///
Yes, America did its part. Many men and women in this
country and around the world -- most of whom you will never meet
-- worked to secure your freedom. Today, we recognize the
selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his years as special envoy at the
United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Giani Picco has
sought always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for
his efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
responsibility
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the creation: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Permanent Representative to the United
Nations. My distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in
the Security Council. For the past ten years, he has served the
cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
5
His tenure has marked the rebirth of the UN -- its emergence
as a force for peace. Cooperation now replaces Cold War conflict
-- and across the globe, the UN now leads the international
effort to resolve conflicts that have caused so much suffering.
Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 are underway right
now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr. Secretary-General,
I am personally grateful for your strong stand against Iraq's
brutal assault on Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain the
coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the United
Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever before.
//
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man I am proud
to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General: with great pride, I
now present to you the highest civilian honor this country can
bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL.]
Finally, I want to present a simple gift -- this one to Tom
Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across America --
each one a symbol of the profound bonds Americans share. // It
was sent to me by Lynne Vincent, a teacher in Northridge,
California. For five years, she wore a bracelet inscribed with
your name. On the day of your release, she wrote: "I wanted you
to have my bracelet so you would know you were always in the
thoughts and prayers of many Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrews
13:3." The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in
6
bonds as if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept
you in our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains
that held you proved no match for the bonds that unite all
Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
McGroarty/Bunton
December 11, 1991
5:15 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
5:00 P.M.
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Assistant
Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco. // Let me also welcome to
the White House the friends and families of five special men
returned to freedom. / Finally, to Thomas Sutherland / Alann
Steen / Jesse Turner / Joseph Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let
me simply say: welcome home. //
All over America, people waited for the day your long ordeal
would end. All over America, we share your joy: we thank God
that you are free. //
Nothing says it better than the sign back in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, in Thomas Cicippio's front yard. For five long
years, that sign served as a constant reminder: with the name of
and
oF captivity.
each hostage --ла number counting each cruel day. Then, one by
one, the numbers gave way to a sign marked "FREED." Finally,
just nine days ago, came the moment the Cicippio family prayed
for. Over Joseph's name, they nailed not another number, but a
sign, that read: "FREE AT LAST."
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. Hostage-taking is hell on a human scale -- not just for
the innocents held captive, but for the families they left
behind. /
2
No power on earth can give back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is now learning the horrors you
endured. But we're learning as well the story of your survival -
- the miracle you fashioned from the hope your captors could not
take away. //
We know now how you used the language of the deaf to
communicate from cell to cell -- to speak to one another in
silence; how you managed to learn from one another -- laugh with
one another -- help each other sustain a stubborn dignity. //
You demonstrated each day in captivity a defiant faith. You
believed in your country, your families, your colleagues -- and
yourselves. You knew, that one day, you would go free. //
Your triumph shines new light on a simple truth. The days
and years apart burn away the trivial things we once thought had
value -- to reveal what truly matters in life: family / faith /
hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes -- even for a
moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so often hold us
hostage and distract us from life's larger joys. ///
The families here today are whole again. But for others,
the ordeal is not over: for two German citizens and their
families -- for the families of two courageous Americans whose
duty sent them to Lebanon and who died at the hands of their
captors. In the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I
call on those responsible for these crimes: Free Heinrich
Struebig and Thomas Kemptner. Return the remains of Rich Higgins
3
and William Buckley. Let the families of these innocent men find
peace. ///
The truth is clear: Hostage-taking has failed. From the
beginning in Tehran in 1979, hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
They were wrong. We remain determined to defend American
interests and international principles in the Middle East.
Through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, we stood fast against
aggression. We showed the world: terrorism in all its forms
cannot succeed. //
In the end, the hostage-takers did more damage to their
cause than they did to American resolve. In the end, each
hostage-taking -- each heartless act against innocents --
announced to the world the inhumanity of the captors.
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson -- you were right when you
said no to negotiating with hostage-takers. This Administration
has followed a no-negotiation policy since the beginning.
Bargaining serves only to make a currency of human lives -- and
leads to more of the evil it seeks to end. I am convinced that
this course remains the world's best hope that no more innocent
men and women will meet your fate -- that no family will ever
again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risk. Sticking with it was
never easy -- especially for a country that cares so deeply about
every American held against his will. / But we have learned
4
that it works: It helped end the agony -- it helped bring you
home. ///
Yes, America did its part. Many men and women in this
country and around the world -- most of whom you will never meet
-- worked to secure your freedom. Today, we recognize the
selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his years as special envoy at the
United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Giani Picco has
sought always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for
his efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL.]
We also honor the man who made your release his personal
responsibility -- a man whose life work in service to
humanitarian ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier
Perez de Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the creation: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Permanent Representative to the United
Nations. My distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in
the Security Council. For the past ten years, he has served the
cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
5
His tenure has marked the rebirth of the UN -- its emergence
as a force for peace. Cooperation now replaces Cold War conflict
-- and across the globe, the UN now leads the international
effort to resolve conflicts that have caused so much suffering.
Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 are underway right
now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr. Secretary-General,
I am personally grateful for your strong stand against Iraq's
brutal assault on Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain the
coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the United
Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever before.
//
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man I am proud
to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General: with great pride, I
now present to you the highest civilian honor this country can
bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL.]
Finally, I want to present a simple gift -- this one to Tom
Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across America --
each one a symbol of the profound bonds Americans share. // It
was sent to me by Lynne Vincent, a teacher in Northridge,
California. For five years, she wore a bracelet inscribed with
your name. On the day of your release, she wrote: "I wanted you
to have my bracelet so you would know you were always in the
thoughts and prayers of many Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrews
13:3." The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in
6
bonds as if you were bound with them." We remembered -- we kept
you in our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains
that held you proved no match for the bonds that unite all
Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome all of you home. May God
bless the United States of America.
# # #
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M.??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage -- as a nation --
we suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale -
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. //
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL. ]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3." "
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept you in
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
McGroarty/Bunton
December 10, 1991
4:45 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOSTAGES/DE CUELLAR MEDAL OF FREEDOM
THE EAST ROOM
DECEMBER 12, 1991
4:30 P.M.??
Good afternoon. I am honored to be joined here by two
gentlemen who represent our highest humanitarian ideals: UN
Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco and Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar. / Let me welcome to the White
House the friends and families of four special men returned to
freedom. And to Thomas Sutherland / Alann Steen / Joseph
Cicippio / and Terry Anderson: let me simply say: welcome home.
//
Barbara and I are grateful you could share this special day
with us. When each of you were taken hostage -- as a nation --
we suffered and shared your grief. We counted each cruel day --
marked the birthdays, the anniversaries, the Christmases missed -
- and never gave up hope. Today, as a nation, we share your joy:
we thank God that you are free. //
All of you have survived an act of unspeakable, uncivilized
cruelty. In each hostage-taking, we see hell on a human scale -
- not just for the innocents held captive, but for the family
they leave behind. Think of Sulome Anderson, the little girl we
watched grow up without her dad. Think of Terry Anderson -- and
the father and brother he could not wish goodbye. //
No power on earth can give you back the years you have lost.
Yet no one can take from you the strength of spirit that
sustained you. The world is learning now the horrors you
2
endured. The days on end spent in darkness, blindfolded --
condemned to silence. The savage beatings -- the psychological
assault aimed at stripping away your inner strength. / Yet you
managed to find ways -- even while in chains -- to communicate
with one another, to sustain one another: to demonstrate each
day in captivity a defiant faith. You knew, with a fierce faith
that inspires us, that one day, you would go free. //
Now, because you fought despair -- because you held fast to
hope -- each one of you has been given a gift beyond measure: a
future with the family you love. //
The days and years apart burn away the things we once
thought had value -- to reveal what truly matters in life:
family / faith / hope and love. Seeing freedom through your eyes
-- even for a moment -- frees us from the petty concerns that so
often hold us hostage and distract us from life's larger joys.
For all of you, the nightmare has ended. But right now, the
anguish continues -- for the families of two innocent German
citizens held against their will, and for the families of two
courageous Americans who died at the hands of their captors. In
the name of the civilized values we hold dear, I call on those
responsible for this crime: return the remains of Rich Higgins
and William Buckley. Let those who loved them find peace. //
From the beginning, the hostage-takers sought to exploit our
system's reverence for the individual as a weakness. / Yet,
throughout your imprisonment, the U.S. followed a single policy:
3
Pursue every avenue to win your release -- but never never --
negotiate with terrorists.
Terry Anderson, you said it best: "You can't negotiate with
hostage-takers. You can't give them anything." // Bargaining
would do no more than create a kind of currency in human lives.
A united front remains the world's best hope that no more
innocent men or women would meet your fate -- that no family
would ever again be forced to endure your years in agony.
This policy was not without risks. Sticking with it was
never easy. In the end, the hostage-takers underestimated our
resolve. They found that taking hostages did more damage to
their cause than it did to American resolve. 11
Your captors believed hostage-taking would tie our hands.
Yet it did nothing to diminish our will to defend American
interests and international ideals in the Middle East. Through
Desert Storm to the Conference in Madrid, we continued to stand
against aggression -- and for the principles that promise a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. //
Yes, America did its part. But your return to freedom was
the work of many men and women in this country and around the
world -- most of whom you will never meet. Today, we recognize
the selfless efforts of one man who at great personal risk helped
bring you to freedom. In his ten years as special envoy at the
UN, Assistant Secretary-General Giandomenico Picco has sought
always to serve peace and resolve conflict. Today, for his
efforts in winning the freedom of our hostages, we honor
4
Giandomenico Picco with the Presidential Award for Exceptional
Service. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL. ]
We also honor the man who made your release a personal
crusade -- a man whose life work in service to humanitarian
ideals has won him honor the world over: Javier Perez de
Cuellar. //
Javier Perez de Cuellar has made peace among nations his
mission and taken the principles of the United Nations Charter as
his personal code. He was present at the founding: as a
delegate to the first General Assembly of the UN in 1946. We
first met in 1971, when each of us received the singular honor of
serving our countries as Ambassador to the United Nations. My
distinguished colleague went on to represent Peru in the Security
Council and serve as its President. For the past ten years, he
has served the cause of world peace as Secretary-General.
During his tenure, the UN has been reborn. Cold War
conflict has given way to true cooperation. Under UN auspices,
progress has been made in conflicts that have long defied
solution. Peacekeeping missions have proliferated -- 11 overall
in action right now, 5 begun in the past year alone. // Mr.
Secretary-General, I am personally grateful for your strong stand
against aggression in Kuwait -- and your tireless work to sustain
the coalition. In large part because of your leadership, the
United Nations now stands closer to its founding ideal than ever
before. //
5
Today, we honor this architect of peace -- a man whom I am
proud to call my friend. Mr. Secretary General, it is with great
pride that I now present to you the highest honor this country
can bestow: the Medal of Freedom. [CITATION READ -- PRESIDENT
AWARDS MEDAL.]
Finally, I want to present today a simple gift -- this one
to Thomas Sutherland. There are thousands more like it across
America -- each one precious. / It was sent to me by Lynn
Vincent, a teacher in Northridge, California. For five years,
she wore a bracelet inscribed with your name. On the day of your
release, she wrote: "I wanted you to have my bracelet so you
would know you were always in the thoughts and prayers of many
Americans." //
On the side of this simple band are the words "Hebrew 13:3. "
The verse reads as follows: "Remember those who are in bonds as
if you were bound with them. " We remembered -- we kept you in
our thoughts and prayers -- and in the end, the chains that held
you proved no match for the bonds that unite all Americans. //
Today those open arms welcome you home. May God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
Dec. 12 / Administration of George Bush, 1991
we see too many problems. It is not a politi-
finally, just 9 days ago, came the moment
system's reverence for
cal problem as you very well know.
the Cicippio family prayed for. And over
sought to exploit that
The President. Thank you all very much.
your captors believed
Joseph's name, they nailed not another
We've got to go over and greet the families
tie our hands, and tl
number but a sign that read, "Free at last."
remained determined
now.
And that said a lot for all of us.
interests in internatic
Note: The exchange began at 4:35 p.m.
And all of you have survived an act of
Middle East. Throug.
in the Rose Garden at the White House, prior
unspeakable, uncivilized cruelty. Hostage-
Desert Storm we stoc
to a meeting with the U.N. Secretary-
taking is hell on a human scale, not just for
sion, and we showed
General; Giandomenico Picco, Assistant to
the innocents held captive, but for the fami-
ism in all its forms C
the Secretary-General for Special
lies, for the families that they left behind.
the end, the hosta
Assignments; and the former five American
And no power on Earth can give back the
damage to their cau
hostages.
years that you've lost. And yet no one can
America's resolve, cer
take from you the strength of the spirit that
your resolve. And in t
sustained you.
taking, each heartless
Remarks on Presenting the Medal of
The world is now learning the horrors
announced to the wo
Freedom and the Presidential Award
that you endured. But we're learning as
the captors.
for Exceptional Service to United
well, and this is the good news, the story of
Tom Sutherland and
Nations Officials
your survival, the miracle that you fash-
were right when you
December 12, 1991
ioned from the hope your captors could not
with hostage-takers. T
take away.
followed a no-negotis
The President. We are so happy, Barbara
We know now you used the language of
beginning. Bargaining
and I are so happy to be here for this very
the deaf to communicate from cell to cell to
a currency of huma
special pre-Christmas family occasion at the
speak to one another in silence, how you
more of the evil that
White House, The Vice President is here,
managed to learn from one another, laugh
convinced that this
and I salute him. Members of our Cabinet:
with one another, help each other sustain a
world's best hope th
Secretary of State; Secretary Mosbacher;
stubborn indignity. And you demonstrated
men and women will
Secretary of Labor; Tom Pickering, our able
each day in captivity a defiant faith. You
no family will ever
Ambassador at the U.N. And we all were
believed in your country and your families
endure your years in i
just dying to come.
and your colleagues and yourself. And you
This policy was not
We're joined also by two gentlemen who
knew that one day you would go free.
with it wasn't easy, e:
represent the highest in humanitarian
Your triumph shines new light on a
that cares so deeply
ideals. And I'm talking, of course, about
simple truth: The days and years apart burn
held against his will.
Javier Perez de Cuellar, the Secretary-Gen-
away the trivial things we once thought had
works. It helped end
eral of the United Nations; and the Assistant
value to reveal what truly matters in life,
to feel that it helped t
Secretary-General Gianni Picco, who is
family, faith, hope, and love. And seeing
Yes, America did it
right here. Let me also welcome to the
freedom through your eyes, even for a
women in this cour
White House the friends and the families of
moment, frees us from the petty concerns
world, most of whor
five special men returned to freedom. Fi-
that so often hold us hostage and distract us
worked to secure you
nally, to Thomas Sutherland, Alann Steen,
from life's larger joys, larger meaning.
we want to go on. S
Jesse Turner, Joseph Cicippio, and Terry
The families here today are whole again.
members sitting behi
Anderson, let me simply say on behalf of
But for others the ordeal is not over, for
you did their part, at
our entire country, welcome home.
two German citizens and their families, for
well. And it wasn't ji
All over America people waited for the
ters and brothers an
the families of two courageous Americans
day your long ordeal would end. And all
whose duty sent them to Lebanon and who
might single out here.
over America we share your joy, and we
But there are othe
died at the hands of their captors. In the
thank God that you are free.
name of the civilized values that we hold
we want to recognize
Nothing says it better than, I think, the
dear, I call on those responsible for these
one man who, at grea
sign in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in
crimes: Free Heinrich Struebig and Thomas
bring you to freedom
Thomas Cicippio's front yard. For 5 long
Kemptner, and return the remains of Rich
enthetically that one
years that sign served as a constant remind-
Higgins and William Buckley. And let the
heard from Terry And
er, with the name of each hostage and a
tion that we honor th
families of these innocent men find peace.
number counting each cruel day of captiv-
honor, and the other
The truth is clear. Hostage-taking has
ity. And then, one by one, the numbers
In his years as S
failed. From the beginning in Tehran in
gave way to a sign marked "Freed." And
United Nations, Assis.
1979, hostage-takers sought to exploit our
Administration of George Bush, 1991 / Dec. 12
system's reverence for the individual. They
Gianni Picco has sought always to serve
ame the moment
sought to exploit that as a weakness. And
peace and to resolve conflict. Today for his
ed for. And over
your captors believed hostage-taking would
efforts in winning the freedom of our hos-
.led not another
tie our hands, and they were wrong. We
tages, we honor Mr. Picco with the Presi-
ad, "Free at last."
remained determined to defend American
dential Award for Exceptional Service.
us.
interests in international principles in the
Would you come up here, please, sir?
trvived an act of
Middle East. Through Desert Shield and
Very proud to have you here.
cruelty. Hostage-
Desert Storm we stood fast against aggres-
I will ask the Major to read the citation
scale, not just for
sion, and we showed the world that terror-
ism in all its forms can't succeed. And in
please. Please be seated.
but for the fami-
they left behind.
the end, the hostage-takers did more
The Major. "The United States honors
an give back the
damage to their cause than they did to
Mr. Picco in recognition of his distinguished
a yet no one can
America's resolve, certainly than they did to
role in facilitating the release of hostages
of the spirit that
your resolve. And in the end, each hostage-
held in Lebanon. His skillful diplomacy
taking, each heartless act against innocence
with Middle Eastern governments and offi-
ning the horrors
announced to the world the inhumanity of
cials and representatives of the hostage
e're learning as
the captors.
holders has resulted in freedom for many
news, the story of
Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson, you
individuals held in the region outside the
e that you fash-
were right when you said no to negotiating
due process of law, including six Ameri-
captors could not
with hostage-takers. This administration has
cans.
followed a no-negotiation policy since the
"His personal courage in the face of
d the language of
beginning. Bargaining serves only to make
danger and his dedication to the mission
fom cell to cell to
a currency of human lives and leads to
represent the best tradition of international
more of the evil that it seeks to end. I am
civil service."
silence, how you
convinced that this course remains the
e another, laugh
The President. We also honor the man
world's best hope that no more innocent
ch other sustain a
who made your release his personal respon-
ou demonstrated
men and women will meet your fate, that
sibility, a man whose life work in service to
efiant faith. You
no family will ever again be forced to
humanitarian ideals has won him honor the
endure your years in agony.
and your families
world over, Javier Perez de Cuellar.
This policy was not without risk. Sticking
ourself. And you
Before asking the Major to read the cita-
with it wasn't easy, especially for a country
uld go free.
tion let me just say this: He made peace
that cares so deeply about every American
new light on a
among all nations his mission. He's taken
held against his will. We've learned that it
years apart burn
the principles of the United Nations Char-
works. It helped end the agony, and I like
once thought had
ter as a personal code.
to feel that it helped bring you home.
matters in life,
Yes, America did its part. Many men and
He was present at the creation as a dele-
ove. And seeing
women in this country and around the
gate to the first General Assembly of the
yes, even for a
United Nations back in 1946. And we first
world, most of whom you'll never meet,
e petty concerns
met in 1971 when each of us received the
worked to secure your freedom. And today,
Je and distract us
we want to go on. So many of the family
singular honor of serving our countries as
r meaning.
members sitting behind you all and aside of
Permanent Representative to the United
are whole again.
you did their part, and boy, did they do it
Nations.
is not over, for
well. And it wasn't just spouses; it was sis-
My distinguished colleague went on to
heir families, for
ters and brothers and plenty of others I
represent Peru in the Security Council, and
geous Americans
might single out here.
then, of course, as we all know, for the past
ebanon and who
But there are others as well. And today
10 years he has served the cause of world
captors. In the
we want to recognize the selfless efforts of
peace as Secretary-General.
les that we hold
one man who, at great personal risk, helped
His tenure has marked the rebirth, literal-
onsible for these
bring you to freedom. And I might say par-
ly, the rebirth of the United Nations, its
ebig and Thomas
enthetically that one of the first words I
emergence as a force for peace. Coopera-
remains of Rich
heard from Terry Anderson was the sugges-
tion now replaces cold war conflict. And
ley. And let the
tion that we honor the man we're about to
across the globe the U.N. now leads the
men find peace.
honor, and the other one as well.
international effort to resolve conflicts that
stage-taking has
In his years as Special Envoy at the
have caused so much suffering. Peacekeep-
g in Tehran in
United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General
ing missions have proliferated. Eleven are
.t to exploit our
1815
Dec. 12 / Administration of George Bush, 1991
underway right now; five begun in the past
arena that have made it possible for the
So, it's a fitting tim-
year alone.
United Nations to carry out this role are
And I think we'll jus
And, Mr. Secretary-General, I am person-
deeply gratifying. And much credit is due
and ask you to come,
ally grateful to you for your strong stand
to President Bush himself, who has a pro-
just come by and say
against Iraq's assault on Kuwait, your tire-
found understanding of the organization
less work to sustain the coalition. In large
and its goals.
Note: The President
part because of your leadership, the United
Mr. President, it gives me special pleas-
the East Room at the 1
Nations now stands closer to its founding
ure to attend this ceremony after having
Wissler, USMC, milit
ideal than at any time in history.
been greeted by a group of brave and won-
dent, read the citati.
And today then we honor this architect of
derful men who, at this moment, under-
available for verificat
peace, a man we are all proud to call
stand more fully than we possibly can the
this exchange.
friend, that Barbara and I especially treas-
true meaning of freedom. That these
ure the friendship for the Perez de Cuel-
former American hostages have, at long
lars. Mr. Secretary-General, with great
last, been reunited with their loved ones
Remarks on Lighting
pride I now present to you the highest civil-
Christmas Tree
and especially during this holiday season
ian honor this country can bestow, the
makes the efforts that I and my efficient
December 12, 1991
Medal of Freedom. And I will ask the Major
and loyal assistant, Mr. Giandomenico
to read the citation.
Welcome to this WC
Picco, have undertaken these many months
The Major. "Javier Perez de Cuellar. For
all the more worthwhile.
tradition. And I am p
10 years of exceptionally distinguished serv-
night to have some
At the same time, Mr. President, I cannot
ice as Secretary-General of the United Na-
but mention with sorrow an American who
here with us to help
tions, Javier Perez de Cuellar presided over
Christmas tree. Americ.
the rebirth of that institution. With wisdom,
was kidnaped while serving the United Na-
swered when these me.
vision, diplomacy, and skill, he forged a
tions, namely, Colonel William R. Higgins,
U.N. where cooperation in reaching
who was, at the time of his abduction, chief
so a special welcome to
Madeleine Bassil. Here
common goals is replacing rhetoric and di-
of a peacekeeping observer group in south
Lebanon. It is tragic that the life of this
Virginia Steen; and Thc
vision.
"His tireless dedication to conflict resolu-
innocent man was lost. I am doing every-
erland; Joseph and El
tion, and economic and social concerns has
thing possible to see to it that his body is
Jesse and Badr Turner.
contributed to a better world and ensured a
returned promptly to his family.
Have a great evening.
As I prepare to leave office, I would like,
[At this point, the Ch
strengthened U.N. more capable than ever
of fulfilling its Charter.
once again, to thank President Bush for the
Peace entertainment beg
cooperation and support he has extended to
Well, thank you, Joe.
"His service has been marked by a singular
me as Secretary-General, and to the organi-
of you, and it's good to S
devotion to humanitarian interests, includ-
ing the life, security, and safety of individ-
zation more widely; and particularly in
the Interior, so many C
ual people throughout the world.
helping to ensure that the United Nations
here. And, of course, a
may fulfill the enormous expectations that
Marilyn Horne; this marv
"The United States honors a servant of hu-
mankind who has advanced the cause of
today exist for greater peace, stability, and
Chorus; the Navy Band;
freedom and hope."
respect for human rights to all the world.
favorites, the Gatlin B1
The President. Congratulations.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And all the performers
The Secretary-General. Mr. President,
The President. I know some of us are
Christmas spirit to Washir
Mrs. Bush, Excellencies, ladies and gentle-
going over to light America's Christmas
And thanks to Santa.
men, it is a tremendous honor for me to
tree across the way, but Barbara and I just
coming up. And we don
receive the Medal of Freedom, an award
have to say hello to the families. So what
particular Santa, Willard
that I shall value all the more highly be-
we'll suggest is, we'll go out here in the
weather's going to be 1
cause it has been given to me by my old
hall, and you all come wandering out.
Eve. He's predicting it.
and very dear friend, President Bush.
You've got to do that; that's mandatory. You
every once in a while. [La-
In my view, it is really more appropriate
have to say hello to us. And then, please
This is a very special I
that this tribute should be paid to the
take your families and browse through this
over my shoulder here at
United Nations as a whole rather than to
winter wonderland. The work on all these
guests, the brave men who
me personally. Today, as never before, the
decorations was done by volunteers from all
tonight. And on behalf of
organization is being called upon to fulfill
over this country, and I think you'll feel, as
try I say, finally, to Terry
the responsibility entrusted to it by its
we do, that the White House is blessed by
Sutherland, Joseph Cicip
founding fathers nearly half a century ago.
this wonderful dedication, and the gift from
Steen and Jesse Turner, ai
The circumstances in the international
the American people.
here: Welcome home.
1816