Memorial Day Speech
Friends,
On the Friday morning before Memorial Day last week, the Naval Station
Everett hosted a ceremony to recognize veterans and those who served and
gave their lives for this country. I was invited to attend and to sit
on the dais. I eagerly agreed to attend but declined the opportunity to
sit on the stage. On the day prior to the event, my trusty aide came in
with the particulars of the event. The main speech was to given by a
Washington state senator. Truthfully, I grimaced at the prospect of a
local politician using a Memorial Day event to give a political speech.
I was committed to attend and decided to grin and bare it if that was in
fact what was about to happen. It was a beautiful sunny Pacific
Northwest day. Many veterans in their VFW or American Legion hats and
shirts were present, including a number of WWII vets. I was glad I had
come and looked forward to meeting as many of the veterans as possible.
The event kicked off and my colleague, Rear Admiral Len Hering,
introduced the guest speaker, State Senator Paul Chen. I settled back
for what I hoped would be, at minimum, a speech that recognized the
tremendous efforts of the many veterans in attendance---but braced for
the worst.
State Senator Paul Chen was introduced as a first generation immigrant
from Korea, professor at the University of Washington, state senator.
The Senator walked slowly to the podium and without notes told the
following story (I paraphrase):
I was born in Korea in 1935. My father immediately abandoned my mother
and me. My mother died when I was four years old. I became a street
orphan, begging for food for the next 11 years, living without a home or
family of any kind. In 1950 the American army arrived in Korea and I
saw long convoys of American trucks and vehicles on the road. I quickly
learned to hold my hands out when they passed and oftentimes the
American soldiers would hand me food, especially candy. One day, an
American convoy had stopped to cross a platoon bridge across a river. I
held out my hand to some soldiers and one of them reach down to me.
Instead of putting candy in my hands, he
pulled me up into the truck with him and he smiled at me. I don't know
why. I must of looked pitiful. I was 15 years old and had never had a
bath in my life.
This soldier took me to be a house boy for a group of American army
officers. He fed me, bathed me, and gave me shelter for the first time
since I was 4 years old. I loved being a house boy to these American
officers. They were kind to me. But, I missed my mother. One evening
after work I went off a ways from the officer's house to look at the
sky.
When I missed my mother, I counted the stars. When I was lonely, I
counted the stars. My whole life, when I was hungry, I counted the
stars. This particular evening, I counted the stars and cried. When I
looked up, I saw one of the American officers standing over me. He took
me in his arms and hugged me. He told me that he would take care of me
and he and his wife would adopt me and bring me to America. His name
was Lieutenant Colonel Paul, an Army dentist. My new father advised me
to keep my Korean sir name, Chen. But I decided to make my first name,
Paul---in honor of my American father. That is why, today, I am Paul
Chen.
Unfortunately, the adoption took two years to be approved. Finally I
was able to join my new American family. I flew to the States and
landed in San Francisco where I was to spend several days before my new
family could officially adopt me. I walked around San Francisco in
utter disbelief by it's beautiful. I got hungry and entered a
restaurant, but could not read the English on the menu. Embarrassed, I
fled before the waitress could take my order. I did this many times.
Finally, I entered a restaurant and sat near an American couple's table.
I listened to what they ordered. The
couple said they wanted a snack and ordered apple pie. Later the
waitress
came to my table. She asked me what I wanted and I said, Apple Pie. I
ate the apple pie and it was good. I then went to a second restaurant
and did the same thing---Apple Pie. And then a third. Finally I got
tired of apple pie. I then again sat next to an American couple and
heard them order Ham Sandwich. So later, I ordered Ham Sandwich. The
waitress said, "white or
rye?" I said Ham Sandwich. Again she asked, "white or rye"? I didn't
know what to say, so I answered, "Apple Pie".
After joining his American family at age 18, he began in earnest to
learn the English language, by memorizing a dictionary. Later he
successfully completed a high school GED, then attended college--earning
Bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees. He became a professor at the
University of Washington. Later in life, he became a State Senator.
After telling his story, Senator Chen paused. He looked out at the 100
or so veterans in the chairs in front of him. He lowered his voice and
told them, "thank you for all that you have done for me, all that you
did for my
country, and all that you have done for people around the world." He
went
on to say that America is the greatest country in the world and that
it's military has played a key role in providing much of the world a
real hope for a better life.
Senator Chen then thanked the veterans for inviting him to speak and sat
down without any fanfare. There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes it takes someone like an 18 old boy, newly arrived to the US, speaking no English, to drive home a strong message about the crucial
role our veterans have played throughout the world over the past half a century or more. I wish I had a video of Senator Chen's remarks and the
ability to show that video in every high school in this country. My hats off to all of you veterans. You have made quite a mark on the world---one Senator Chen at a time.
Sincerely,
Doug
No comments:
Post a Comment