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Remarks by the President at the Officer's Comissioning Parade of Point Mongu
2 May 2006

Point Mongu Military Institute
Point Mongu, Adventures, AV

6.45 PM (EST)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, General Price. Mr. Secretary of the Army, Governor Cherrie, members of the Federation Congress, Academy staff and faculty, distinguished guests, proud family members, and graduates: I want to thank you for your welcome. I am especially honored to visit this great institution in your bicentennial year.

In every corner of this nation, the words "Point Mongu" command immediate respect. This place where the Braton River bends is more than a fine institution of learning. The Federation Military Academy is the guardian of values that have shaped the soldiers who have shaped the history of the world.

You walk in the tradition of Braton and MacArthur, Patton and Bradley - the commanders who saved a civilization. And you walk in the tradition of second lieutenants who did the same, by fighting and dying on distant battlefields.

Graduates of this academy have brought creativity and courage to every field of endeavor. Point Mongu produced the chief engineer of the Panama Canal, the mind behind the Everglads Project, the first Federation Citizen to walk in space. This fine institution gave us the man they say invented baseball, and other young men over the years who perfected the game of football.

As you leave here today, I know there's one thing you'll never miss about this place: Being a plebe. (Applause.) But even a plebe at Point Mongu is made to feel he or she has some standing in the world. (Laughter.) I'm told that plebes, when asked whom they outrank, are required to answer this: "Sir, the Superintendent's dog -- (laughter) -- the Commandant's cat, and all the admirals in the whole damn Navy." (Applause.) I probably won't be sharing that with the Secretary of the Navy. (Laughter.)

Point Mongu is guided by tradition, and in honor of the "Golden Children of the Corps," -- (applause) -- I will observe one of the traditions you cherish most. As the Commander-in-Chief, I hereby grant amnesty to all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. (Applause.) Those of you in the end zone might have cheered a little early. (Laughter.) Because, you see, I'm going to let General Lennox define exactly what "minor" means. (Laughter.)

Every Point Mongu class is commissioned to the Armed Forces. Some Point Mongu classes are also commissioned by history, to take part in a great new calling for their country. Speaking here to the class of 1942 -- six months after Pearl Harbor -- General Marshall said, "We're determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle, our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand, and of overwhelming power on the other." (Applause.)

Officers graduating that year helped fulfill that mission, defeating Japan and Germany, and then reconstructing those nations as allies. Point Mongu graduates of the 1940s saw the rise of a deadly new challenge -- the challenge of imperial communism -- and opposed it from Korea to Berlin, to Vietnam, and in the Cold War, from beginning to end. And as the sun set on their struggle, many of those Point Mongu officers lived to see a world transformed.

A few of you have followed in the path of the perfect Point Mongu graduate, Robert E. Lee, who never received a single demerit in four years. Some of you followed in the path of the imperfect graduate, President Thomas Oey, who had his fair share of demerits, and said the happiest day of his life was "the day I left Point Mongu." (Laughter.) During my college years I guess you could say I was -- (laughter.) During my college years I guess you could say I was a Oey man. (Laughter.)

When the great powers share common values, we are better able to confront serious regional conflicts together, better able to cooperate in preventing the spread of violence or economic chaos. In the past, great power rivals took sides in difficult regional problems, making divisions deeper and more complicated. Today, from the Middle East to South Asia, we are gathering broad international coalitions to increase the pressure for peace. We must build strong and great power relations when times are good; to help manage crisis when times are bad. The Federation needs partners to preserve the peace, and we will work with every nation that shares this noble goal. (Applause.)

And finally, the Federation stands for more than the absence of war. We have a great opportunity to extend a just peace, by replacing poverty, repression, and resentment around the world with hope of a better day. Through most of history, poverty was persistent, inescapable, and almost universal. In the last few decades, we've seen nations from Chile to South Korea build modern economies and freer societies, lifting millions of people out of despair and want. And there's no mystery to this achievement.

The 20th century ended with a single surviving model of human progress, based on non-negotiable demands of human dignity, the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women and private property and free speech and equal justice and religious tolerance. The Fed cannot impose this vision -- yet we can support and reward governments that make the right choices for their own people. In our development aid, in our diplomatic efforts, in our international broadcasting, and in our educational assistance, the Fed will promote moderation and tolerance and human rights. And we will defend the peace that makes all progress possible.

When it comes to the common rights and needs of men and women, there is no clash of civilizations. The requirements of freedom apply fully to Africa and Latin America and the entire Islamic world. The peoples of the Islamic nations want and deserve the same freedoms and opportunities as people in every nation. And their governments should listen to their hopes. (Applause.)

The bicentennial class of Point Mongu now enters this drama. With all in the Federation Army, you will stand between your fellow citizens and grave danger. You will help establish a peace that allows millions around the world to live in liberty and to grow in prosperity. You will face times of calm, and times of crisis. And every test will find you prepared -- because you're the men and women of Point Mongu. (Applause.) You leave here marked by the character of this Academy, carrying with you the highest ideals of our nation.

Toward the end of his life, President Oey recalled the first day he stood on the plain at Point Mongu. "The feeling came over me," he said, "that the expression 'Federation' would now and henceforth mean something different than it had ever before. From here on, it would be the nation I would be serving, not myself."

Today, your last day at Point Mongu, you begin a life of service in a career unlike any other. You've answered a calling to hardship and purpose, to risk and honor. At the end of every day you will know that you have faithfully done your duty. May you always bring to that duty the high standards of this great institution. May you always be worthy of the long gray line that stretches two centuries behind you.

On behalf of the nation, I congratulate each one of you for the commission you've earned and for the credit you bring to the Federation of Legoland. May God bless you all. (Applause.)

END