USS Ward, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack

DD139/A16-3(7--)/
U.S.S. Ward Pearl Harbor, T.H.
December 13, 1941.

From: Commanding Officer.
To: The Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District.
(1) Commander Destroyer Division EIGHTY.
(2) Commander Inshore Patrol.

Subject: Sinking of a Japanese Submarine by U.S.S. Ward.

While patrolling Pearl Harbor Entrance on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward attacked an unidentified submarine in the Restricted Area off the Harbor.

The facts are as follows:

At 0637 the Officer-of-the-Deck said, "Captain come on the bridge". A conning tower with periscope of submarine was visible. She was apparently headed for Pearl Harbor trailing the U.S.S. Antares. The Antares was standing toward the channel entrance towing a lighter.

At 0640 the attack was started. The Ward bore down on the submarine while accelerating from 5 to 25 knots.

At 0645 the Ward opened fire with No. 1 and 3 guns and began dropping depth charges. One shot was fired from each gun. The shot from No. 1 gun missed, passing directly over the conning tower. The shot from No. 3 gun fired at a range of 560 yards or less struck the submarine at the waterline which was the junction of the hull and coning tower. Damage was seen by several members of the crew. This was a square positive hit. There was no evidence of ricochet. The submarine was seen to heel over to starboard. The projectile was not seen to explode outside the hull of the submarine. There was no splash of any size that might results from an explosion or ricochet.

Immediately after being hit the submarine appeared to slow and sink. She ran into our depth charge barrage and appeared to be directly over an exploding charge. The depth charges were set for 100 feet.

The submarine sank in 1200 feet of water and could not be located with supersonic detector. There was a large amount of oil on the surface where the depth charges exploded.

The attack was made at 0645 which was before Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese planes.

A dispatch by voice transmission was sent to Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District at 0645 which stated:

"We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges on a submarine operating in defensive sea areas."

The performance of duty by the officers and men during this attack was in accordance with the traditions of this service.

Pertinent Information

Appearance of submarine: Cylindrical tube about 80 feet long with small oval shaped conning tower. It had no deck. It was painted dark green and was covered with moss indicating that it had been at sea for a considerable period.

Behavior during attack: In spite of the five minute run from the time of sighting and time of attack, the submarine apparently did not see or detect the Ward. It was making from 8 to 10 knots and was apparently bent on following the Antares into port. Exact distances are not known but at the time of the first shot the range was not more than 100 yards and for the second shot the range was 50 yards or less. The submarine passed very close to our stern.

[signed]
W.W. OUTERBRIDGE

Chief Joseph Nez Pierce (1840-1904)

Chief Joseph, known by his people as In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat (Thunder coming up over the land from the water), was best known for his resistance to the U.S. Government's attempts to force his tribe onto reservations. The Nez Perce were a peaceful nation spread from Idaho to Northern Washington. The tribe had maintained good relations with the whites after the Lewis and Clark expedition. Joseph spent much of his early childhood at a mission maintained by Christian missionaries.

In 1855 Chief Joseph's father, Old Joseph, signed a treaty with the U.S. that allowed his people to retain much of their traditional lands. In 1863 another treaty was created that severely reduced the amount of land, but Old Joseph maintained that this second treaty was never agreed to by his people.

A showdown over the second "non-treaty" came after Chief Joseph assumed his role as Chief in 1877. After months of fighting and forced marches, many of the Nez Perce were sent to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma, where many died from malaria and starvation. Chief Joseph tried every possible appeal to the federal authorities to return the Nez Perce to the land of their ancestors. In 1885, he was sent along with many of his band to a reservation in Washington where, according to the reservation doctor, he later died of a broken heart.

Quotes from Chief Joseph:

* I have carried a heavy load on my back ever since I was a boy. I realized then that we could not hold our own with the white men. We were like deer. They were like grizzly bears. We had small country. Their country was large. We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not, and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them.

* I am tired of fighting.... from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more.

* Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good. They told us to treat all people as they treated us; that we should never be the first to break a bargain; that is was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should speak only the truth; that it was a shame for one man to take another's wife or his property without paying for it.

* Suppose a white man should come to me and say, "Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them." I say to him, "No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them." Then he goes to my neighbor and says, "Pay me money, and I will sell you Joseph’s horses." The white man returns to me and says, "Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them." If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them.

* I am not a child, I think for myself. No man can think for me.

* If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. Treat all men alike. Give them a chance to live and grow.

* All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.

* If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect him to grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper.

* The earth and myself are of one mind.

* We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets, that hereafter he will give every man a spirit home according to his deserts; If he has been a good man, he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad home.

* This I believe, and all my people believe the same.

* Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country, now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father’s grave. They do not pay for all my horses and cattle.

* Good words cannot give me back my children. Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves.

* I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk.

* It does not require many words to speak the truth.

* We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God, as the Catholics and Protestants do. We do not want that.

* We may quarrel with men about things on earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit.

* I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell you in my way how the Indian sees things. The white man has more words to tell you how they look to him, but is does not require many words to seek the truth.

* Too many misinterpretations have been made... too many misunderstandings...

* The Great Spirit Chief who rules above all will smile upon this land... and this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.

* I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.

Address by William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891)

Ladies and Gentlemen, and Fellow-Citizens:

When I accepted the invitation to come over to your town and join with you in the festivities of this Fourth of July, I little dreamed I would be ushered so soon upon the stage. I thought some younger and more ambitious man would break the way, and prepare for those who were to follow.

But, I find myself here at your bidding. I believe I have never failed you, and I will try to do my best now. I think every old soldier will give me full credit for being in earnest.

It is a long time, my friends, since I have seen a Fourth of July within the groves with ladies and children, all free in the woods of nature. I have seen crowds of all kinds in the cities and on the battle-fields, but I cannot recollect having seen a crowd of ladies and children all mingled together in the native forest, for many, many years.

I trust you will bear with me if my voice does not reach you all, for I am not accustomed to pitch it through the woods and over the heads of a crowd like this, and I hope you will be as quiet and silent as possible.

I regret that Governor Oglesby is unwell, for I thought that he, with his herculean frame and giant intellect, would take the load off my shoulders; but I am going to leave a big pile for my friend John Logan, who has got to fight it through. [Laughter.] Now, my friends and fellow soldiers, with this introduction, let me ask you if we have not a right to come here together and be satisfied and rejoice. [Applause.] We have a right to come here and say that this is our National day, and that we will celebrate it just when and how we please--that we will fire guns or raise flags or do what we please, for it is our day--your day, my day. We are all free in this country. And when did we acquire this freedom? Just ninety years ago, as these young ladies who sang to us in so sweet a melody served to remind us just nine years ago it was boldly proclaimed to the whole world that a new nation was born.

I wish they had called it Columbia, but they called it the United States of America, and we have inherited the name and the fame, and now it becomes us to transmit both to those who may come after us, and we will do it. [Cheers.] But, my friends, inheriting a national name on that day ninety years ago we can look back into the past and into the still darker future, and see whether we were entitled to that name.

I remember well to have read of Columbus on his voyage of discovery, and I have always felt for him as he stood by that foremast looking into the future, into the unknown distance of time, and never doubting but what he would discover at last the land which we have inherited. I would rather have him standing there by that foremast as our National emblem than almost anything else--standing there full of confidence and hope, looking into the future, never doubting and regardless of the tumult and turmoil around him. He did discover our country and then the nations of the earth commenced grasping for territory--he Spaniard for his gold and for the fountain of perpetual youth. He has found his gold and passed away. The English, the Swedes, the Germans--all came in search of fertile lands. They looked for the land which would remain forever yielding its grain, its grass and its timber; so that not only they, but their children after them should live and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The Spaniards have nearly vanished from our territory, but the English, the Swedes, the Germans, the French remain, and their posterity will remain till the end of time.

From this I infer the fact that the soil and climate such as you enjoy here in Illinois is the wealth of America not alone its mineral resources. They are incidental. They are dug up and are taken away, but this soil remains to you today, next year and forever to the end of time; and will produce food and raiment for all men on the face of the earth.

Then comes the intellectual part of our history. Look at Franklin drawing from the clouds the agency of electricity, so that now you are able to communicate with your friends far away that you are well and comfortably assembled together. He is also another man whom we should cherish with pride--he and other men who made your constitution according to the best of their understanding, believing that it would fulfill the destiny for which they contemplated it. No one doubted that it was fair upon its face; every paragraph had been well studied, and it did work like a charm, and I still think it is the best heritage which they could have given us.

But like many of the people of the world, are we not governed by reason alone. We are full of passion; I am full of passion and sometimes act wildly. So do you, and so do all men. We do not follow the dictates of our intellect and reason; but are swayed hither and thither by passion. Passion carried us into one war with England; then came the Mexican War, and finally the great war which is now over, thank God, and you are the living witnesses of it.

I know that you connect my name with this last war; but I must confess there were phases which I was powerless to meet. Everyone of you have seen and comprehended perfectly the whole problem. A part of our people supposing they had sustained wrongs endeavored to break down our Government. You said no, they said yes. There was no use disguising it further, it had to be fought out. All arguments were at an end. All discussion should have ceased then and there; and every man capable of bearing arms should have siezed [sic] his musket and rushed to the standard of his country and rescued it from danger as you did.

But it was difficult for a time, as you all know, to comprehend that any part of the American people would rebel against any other part. I could not believe it until I saw it. I doubt if any man in Illinois comprehended in the beginning that we were to be swamped in civil war. But when at last it flashed upon us how majestically rose our people. It is one of the proudest points in our history that our young men, regardless of party and of former associations, rushed to the rescue of that flag which is the symbol of our Nation and rescued it. [Cheers.]

But I hope that never, never again will you be called on to be exposed, as you were, to the dangers and vicissitudes of war. But I believe that you, and such as you that fill our Western country and the far off East, will solve and make plain that course which will bring us all back to our true position in reference to National right and National duty.

[At this point Governor Oglesby made his appearance on the platform and was received with loud cheers.]

As I remarked in the first place, ladies and gentlemen, I do not intend to make a Fourth of July speech, and I am glad to see that the Governor has come to my rescue. There are two or three points in relation to the last war upon which I want the Illinois boys to understand how I feel, because in those days you remember I could not talk to you very confidentially. [Laughter.] I believe, as a general rule, there was a full understanding among the Generals of the army; but even we had to be very careful lest information of our intentions should get abroad and result in your loss. If I had said in advance that I was going to do a certain thing, many of you now living might not be here now. It was our desire--the desire of every officer in the army, every general officer--to accomplish the object in view, and as far as possible restore you back in health to your families.

We did not like to see blood shed, but we were determined to produce results. Now, what were those results? To make every man, woman and child in the South feel that if they had rebelled against the flag of our country they must die or submit. [Loud cheers.] That was the problem which we had to solve. As long as they met us man to man, and face to face, we went at them and struck in front and rear. And when they tried the game of drawing us farther and farther away--compelling us to leave our garrisons or guard here, so as to absorb our strength--when they undertook to play that game, it became necessary for us to defeat it, and to make it appear that we were going to do one thing, and then go and do another. [Laughter.] Now you all remember when we took Atlanta it looked as though with our army strung along a line of six or seven hundred miles the head of the column would be crushed.

If I had gone on stringing out my forces would there not have been a time when the head of that column would have been crushed in? You soldiers are generals enough to see that. Therefore I resolved in my mind to stop the game of guarding their cities, and destroy their cities. [Cheers.]

Now, my friends, I know there are parties who denounce me as inhuman. I appeal to you if I have not always been kind and considerate to you. [Cheers.] I care not what they say. [Bully for you and cheers.] I say that it ceased to be our duty to guard their cities any longer, and had I gone on stringing out my column, little by little, some of your Illinois regiments would not have come home, but would have been crushed. Therefore I determined to go through their country, and so I took one army myself and gave my friend George Thomas the other, and we whaled away with both. [Loud cheers.] Therefore we destroyed Atlanta, and if we had destroyed all the cities of the South in order to bring about the result in view it would have been right. [Loud cheers.]

The course we pursued did produce the desired result, and now, ladies, you see your young friends returned to you, wives see their husbands-- all reunited in this beautiful grove in Illinois, and God knows, I hope you will never be sent forth again; but if you are, I know you will respond more promptly than you did before. [Loud cheers.]

As to the future, I have been over all that part of the country which is assigned to me, and I have never yet, at any period of our history, seen the country looking so prosperous, the grain growing so luxuriantly, and the people so well contented and happy, the table so bountifully spread; and all this, too, out on the plains of Kansas where, six years ago, it required an escort of three hundred men to guard an officer sent to pay off a garrison. Now I can go, and anybody can go with a single horse a way out to the limits of Kansas, or even to Colorado, without an escort, and that too at the close of a long and terrible war. So that I say that we are progressing to the end we have in view, and that whether the politicians, whether the statesmen, I will call them, the judges and lawyers, will adopt a policy to produce the desired result, I don't know and don't much care, because it will be done anyhow. [Laughter and cheers.] I say if the farmers, mechanics and businessmen will go on and attend to their own business the people of Missouri will do the same. Iowa the same, and so it will be all over the Western and Northern country, and politicians will be compelled to adapt their policy to this end--and that is the true end, namely, the great prosperity of our country.

Therefore it is unnecessary to even allude to the position in which our national affairs are placed, for I do not pretend to comprehend or understand them. It is not my task; but it is my task to see that the forces placed at my disposal to put down opposition to the laws quickly and forever, do their duty. [Cheers.] Whenever the United States Marshal comes to me and tells me that his power is resisted, and he has not sufficient civil force to execute the laws, if I have soldiers I will go to his assistance and see that the laws are enforced. And my friends, if that rule is carried out in the land, if the laws of Congress are to be enforced wherever this flag floats, then in truth are we a nation to all intents and purposes, at home and abroad.

I have also had occasion to meet with a great many foreigners of late and I tell you they have a great deal of respect for us; far more than they did five years ago, and they have reason to. At the same time I believe the policy that General Washington laid down is the true one, not to interfere with other people. We have plenty to do ourselves, at home. [We?] have land enough in all [causes?] level land, mountain land [?] for that three hundred millions of people. [?] All the riches of the [?]. Therefore, I hope we will never be jealous of our neighbors' prosperity, and that our people will not become involved with any foreign nations; but when it becomes necessary to assert our authority with foreign nations, let Congress and the Executive do it by due course of law, and then it becomes our right and not before. [Cheers.] Now, fellow soldiers, I have spoken longer than I could wish, but I beg you would consider it as a measure of my love for the old army. I do not believe you realize or understand the feeling which I had for you, as you left all behind you and followed me blindly, not knowing what was transpiring in my mind--followed me in my long and devious career without asking any questions--cheerfully and well. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, because then you were serving your country. You realize it now--you and I surviving. I did not expect to survive the war, but I have survived it, and you have survived it, and now from the bottom of my heart I thank you for that cheerful performance of your duty-- noble and manly endurance which at last caused the clouds of war to vanish, and enable our flag to float triumphantly over our whole land.

And now, here we are in peace and quiet at home in the midst of plenty, prosperity and kind friends, and I trust these old flags may remain with you forever.

Presented in Salem, Illinois, on July 4, 1866

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's speech to the United Nations

Thank you President of the General Assembly, Dr. Han Seung-Soo, and Secretary General Annan.
And thank you very much for the opportunity to speak, and also for the consideration you showed the city in putting off your general session. And as I explained to the secretary general and the president of the General Assembly, we are now open and we're ready, and at any time that we can arrange it, we look forward to having your heads of state and your foreign ministers here for that session.
On September 11, 2001, New York City, the most diverse city in the world, was viciously attacked in an unprovoked act of war. More than 5,000 innocent men, women and children of every race, religion and ethnicity are lost. Among these were people from 80 different nations.
To their representatives here today, I offer my condolences to you as well on behalf of all New Yorkers who share this lost with you.
This was the deadliest terrorist attack in history. It claimed more lives than Pearl Harbor or D-Day. This was not just an attack on the city of New York or on the United States of America. It was an the attack of the very idea of a free, inclusive and civil society. It was a direct assault on the founding principles of the United Nations itself.
The preamble to the U.N. charter states that this organization exists to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights in the dignity and worth of the human person, to practice tolerance and live together in peace as good neighbors, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security.
Indeed, this vicious attack places in jeopardy the whole purpose of the United Nations. Terrorism is based on the persistent and deliberate violation of fundamental human rights. With bullets and bombs and now with hijacked airplanes, terrorists deny the dignity of human life. Terrorism preys particularly on cultures and communities that practice openness and tolerance. Their targeting of innocent civilians mocks the efforts of those who seek to live together in peace as neighbors; it defies the very notion of being a neighbor.
This massive attack was intended to break our spirit; it has not done that. It's made us stronger, more determined and more resolved. The bravery of our firefighters, our police officers, our emergency workers, and civilians, we may never learn of, in saving over 25,000 lives that day and carrying out the most effective rescue operation in our history, inspires all of us.
I'm very honored to have with me as their representatives, the fire commissioner of New York City, Tom Von Essen.
Tom, please stand up.
And the police commissioner of New York City, Bernard Kerik.
The determination, resolve and leadership of President George W. Bush has unified America and all decent men and women around the world. And the response of many of your nations, your leaders and people, spontaneously demonstrating in the days after the attack your support for New York and America, and your understanding of what needs to be done to remove the threat of terrorism, gives us great, great hope that we will prevail.
The strength of America's response, please understand, flows from the principles upon which we stand. Americans are not a single ethnic group.
Americans are not of one race or one religion. Americans emerged from all of your nations. We're defined as Americans by our beliefs, not by our ethnic origins, our race or our religion. Our belief in religious freedom, political freedom, economic freedom, that's what makes an American. Our belief in democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human life, that's how you become an American.
It's these very principles and the opportunities these principles give to so many to create a better life for themselves and their families that make America and New York a shining city on a hill. There's no nation in the history of the world and no city that has seen more immigrants in less time than America. And people continue to come here in large, large numbers to seek freedom, opportunity, decency, civility.
Each of your nations, I'm certain, has contributed citizens to the United States and to New York. I believe I can take every one of you someplace in New York City, and you can find someone from your country, someone from your village or town, that speaks your language and practices your religion. In each of your lands, there are many who are Americans in spirit by virtue of their commitment to our shared principles.
It's tragic and perverse that it's because of these very principles, particularly our religious, political, and economic freedoms, that we find ourselves under attack by terrorists. Our freedom threatens them, because they know if our ideas of freedom gain a foothold among their people, it will destroy their power. So they strike out against us to keep those ideas from reaching their people.
The best long-term deterrent and approach to terrorism, obviously is the spread of the principles of freedom and democracy and the rule of law and respect for human life. The more that spreads around the globe, the safer we will all be. These are very, very powerful ideas. And once they gain a foothold, they cannot be stopped.
In fact, the rise that we've seen in terrorism and terrorist groups, I believe, is in no small measure a response to the spread of these ideas, freedom and democracy, to many nations, particularly over the past 15 years. The terrorists have no ideas or ideals with which to combat freedom and democracy. So their only defense is to strike out against innocent civilians, destroying human life in massive numbers and hoping to deter all of us from our pursuit and expansion of freedom.
But the long-term deterrent of spreading our ideals throughout the world is just not enough and may never be realized if we do not act, and act together, to remove the clear and present danger posed by terrorism and terrorists.
The United Nations must hold accountable any country that supports or condones terrorism. Otherwise, you will fail in your primary mission as peacekeeper. It must ostracize any nation that supports terrorism. It must isolate any nation that remains neutral in the fight against terrorism.
Now is the time in the words of your charter, the United Nations Charter, ``to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security.'' This is not a time for further study or vague directives. The evidence of terrorism's brutality and inhumanity, of its contempt for life and the concept of peace is lying beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center, less than two miles from where we meet today.
Look at that destruction, that massive, senseless, cruel loss of human life, and then, I ask you to look in your hearts and recognize that there is no room for neutrality on the issue of terrorism. You're either with civilization or with terrorists.
On one side is democracy, the rule of law and respect for human life. On the other, it's tyranny, arbitrary executions and mass murder. We're right and they're wrong. It's as simple as that. And by that I mean that America and its allies are right about democracy, about religious, political and economic freedom. And the terrorists are wrong and, in fact, evil in their mass destruction of human life in the name of addressing alleged injustices.
Let those who say that we must understand the reasons for terrorism, come with me to the thousands of funerals we're having in New York City--thousands--and explain those insane maniacal reasons to the children who will grow up without fathers and mothers and to the parents who have had their children ripped from them for no reason at all. Instead, I ask each of you to allow me to say at those funerals that your nation stands with America in making a solemn promise and pledge that we will achieve unconditional victory over terrorism and terrorists.
There's no excuse for mass murder, just as there's no excuse for genocide. Those who practice terrorism, murdering or victimizing innocent civilians lose any right to have their cause understood by decent people and lawful nations. On this issue, terrorism, the United Nations must draw a line. The era of moral relativism between those who practice or condone terrorism and those nations who stand up against it must end. Moral relativism doesn't have a place in this discussion and debate.
There's no moral way to sympathize with grossly immoral actions. And by so doing and by trying to do that, unfortunately, a fertile field has been created in which terrorism has grown. The best and most practical way to promote peace is to stand up to terror and intimidation.
The Security Council's unanimous passage of Resolution 1373 adopting wide-ranging antiterrorism measures into the international community is a very good first step. It's necessary to establish accountability for the subsidizing of terrorism.
As a former united states attorney I am particularly encouraged that the United Nations has answered President Bush's call to cut terrorists off from their money and their funding. It's enormously important. We've done that successfully with organized crime groups in America. By taking away their ability to mass large amounts of money, you take away their ability to have others carry on their functioning for them even if they're removed, arrested, prosecuted or eliminated through war or through law enforcement. It cuts off the life blood of the organization. So I believe there was a very good first step.
But now it's up to the member states to enforce this and other aspects of the resolution and for the United Nations to enforce these new mechanisms to take the financial base away from the terrorists. Take away their money, take away their access to money and you reduce their ability to carry out complex missions.
Each of you sitting in this room is here because of your country's commitment to being part of the family of nations. We need to unite now as a family as never before across all of our differences in recognition of the fact that the United Nations stands for the proposition that human beings have more in common than divide us. If you need to be reminded of this, you don't need to look very far.
Just go outside for a walk in the streets and the parks of New York City. You can't walk a block or two blocks in New York City without seeing somebody that looks different than you, acts different than you, talks different than you, believes different than you. If you grow up in New York City you learn that and then you look something, if you're an intelligent or decent person, you learn that all those differences are nothing in comparison to the things that unite us.
We're a city of immigrants unlike any other city, within a nation of immigrants. Like the victims of the World Trade Center attack, we're of every race, we're of every religion, we're of every ethnicity and our diversity has been our greatest source of strength.
It's the thing that renews us and revives us in every generation, our openness to new people from all over the world. So from the first day of this attack, an attack on New York, on America and, I believe, on the basic principles that underlie this organization.
I've told the people of New York that we should not allow this to divide us, because then we would really lose what this city is all about. we have a very, very strong--we have very strong and vibrant Muslim and Arab communities in New York City. They are an equally important part of the life of our city. We respect their religious beliefs. We respect everyone's religious beliefs. That's what America is about and that's what New York City is all about.
I've urged New Yorkers not to engage in any form of group blame or group hatred. This is exactly the evil that we're confront with these terrorists. And if we're going to prevail over them, over terror, them our ideals and principles and values must transcend all forms of prejudice. This is a very important part of the struggle against terrorism.
This is not a dispute between religions or ethnic groups. All religions, all decent people are united in their desire to achieve peace and understand that we have to eliminate terrorism. We're not divided about this.
There have been many days in New York, when I was running for mayor and since I've been mayor, that many times, when I would have a weekend in which I would go to a Mosque on a Friday and synagogue on a Saturday and a church--sometimes two churches--on a Sunday.
And by the time I finished, I would say to myself, I know that we're getting through to God. We're talking to him in every language that he understands. We're using every liturgy that exists, and I know we're getting through to the same God.
We may be doing it in slightly different ways. God is known by many different names and many different traditions, but identified by one consistent feeling: love--love for humanity, particularly love for our children. Love does eventually conquer hate. I believe that; I'm sure you do.
But it also needs our help. Good intentions alone are not enough to conquer evil. Remember British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain who, armed only with good intentions, negotiated with the Nazis and emerged hopeful that he had achieved peace in his time.
Hitler's wave of terror was only encouraged by these attempts at appeasement. At the cost of millions of lives, we've learned that words alone, although important, are not enough to guarantee peace. It is action alone that counts.
For the United Nations and individual nations, decisive action is needed to stop terrorism from ever orphaning another child. That's for nations. For individuals, the most effective course of action they can take to aid our recovery is to be determined to go ahead with their lives. We can't let terrorists change the way we live, otherwise, they will have succeeded. In some ways, the resilience of life in New York City is the ultimate sign of defiance to terrorists.
We call ourselves the capital of the world, in large part, because we're the most diverse city in the world and we're the home of the United Nations. So that spirit of unity, amid all our diversity, has never, ever been stronger.
On Saturday night, I walked through Times Square. It was crowded, it was bright, it was lively. Thousands of people were visiting from all parts of the United States and all parts of the world. And many of them came up to me and they shook my hand and patted me on the back and said, ``We're here because we want to show our support for the city of New York. And that's where there's never been a better time to come to New York City.
I say to people across the country and around the world, if you were planning to come to New York sometime in the future, come here now. Come to enjoy our thousands of restaurants, the museums and sporting events and shopping and Broadway, but also come to take a stand against terrorism.
We need to heed the words of a hymn that I and the police commissioner and the fire commissioner and--have heard over and over again at the many funerals and memorial services that we've gone to in the last week, two weeks. They hymn begins ``Be not afraid.''
Freedom from fear is a basic human right. We need to reassert our right to live free from fear, with greater confidence and determination than ever before. Here in New York City, across America and around the world, with one clear voice, unanimously, we need to say, we will not give in to terrorism.
Surrounded by our friends of every faith, we know this is not a clash of civilizations. It's a conflict between murderers and humanity. This is not a question of retaliation or revenge, it's a matter of justice leading to peace. The only acceptable result is the complete and total eradication of terrorism.
New Yorkers are strong and they are resilient. We are unified and we will not yield to terror. We do not let fear make our decisions for us. We choose to live in freedom.

Thank you and God bless you.

Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.

"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.

"So I close in saying that I may have had a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

Charles F. Buckles

Frank Woodruff Buckles’ life spanned the awesome, horrible, fantastic, dreadful Twentieth Century. He saw and experienced much. As America’s last surviving veteran witness to the First World War, his life experiences and perspective are an artifact in our day which often lacks perspective. Frank’s story, in his own words:

The Beginning

I was born on my father’s farm north of Bethany in Harrison County, Missouri, on 1 February 1901. My father retired in 1905 and bought property in the small town of Coffey, where I started school. In 1910, he bought a farm in Vernon County, near Walker, Missouri, where we enjoyed country living. In December 1916, we moved to Dewey County, Oklahoma, near Oakwood. I was 15 at the time, and I accompanied a boxcar load of draft horses and equipment to the farm. I knew that my father was planning to arrange for a man to take the horses to Oklahoma. He would be paid $20 and transportation back to Missouri. I asked my father if I could do the job, and he agreed. My parents came later by automobile.

In the charming little frontier town of Oakwood, population 300, I worked at the bank, lived at the hotel, and went to high school. On 6 April 1917, the United States entered the Great War and patriotic posters appeared in the post offices.

Enlistment

When summer vacation came, I was invited to the Kansas State Fair in Wichita. While there, I went to the Marine Corps recruiting office to enlist. I said that I was 18, but the understanding sergeant said that I was too young; I had to be 21. I went to Lamed, Kansas, to visit my father’s mother who was living with my aunt and uncle who owned a bank in Larned. A week later, I returned to Wichita and went to the Marine recruiting station. This time I stated that I was 21. The same sergeant gave me a physical examination, but kindly told me that I was just not heavy enough. I tried the Navy and passed the tests, but they were perhaps suspicious of my age and told me that I was flat-footed.

I decided to try elsewhere, so I went to Oklahoma City. There I had no luck with either the Marines or the Navy. I then tried the Army, but was asked for a birth certificate. I told them that the public records were not made of births in Missouri at the time I was born, and my record would be in the family Bible. They accepted this and I enlisted in the Army on 14 August 1917. Thirteen of us were accepted at the recruiting station and given rail tickets to Fort Logan, Colorado, where those who were accepted were sworn into the regular U. S. Army. My serial number was 15577.

In choosing the branch of the Army in which to serve, the old sergeant advised that the Ambulance Service was the quickest way to get to France because the French were begging for ambulance services. I followed his advice and was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, for training and trench casualty retrieval and ambulance operations.

The Great War

The unit that I went overseas with was called the First Fort Riley Casual Detachment, which consisted of 102 men. The ranking officer was a sergeant. I have a photo of this unit taken at Fort Riley.

We sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, via Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December 1917, aboard the HMS Carpathia, the vessel famous for the rescue of the White Star Liner, Titanic, on 15 April 1912. Some of the officers and crew who made the rescue were aboard the Carpathia and were not averse to describing the rescue.

We docked in Glasgow, Scotland, and our unit continued on to Winchester, England, to await cross-channel shipment to France. A unit of the 6^th Marines was operating Camp Hospital No. 35 near Winchester. Our unit was forced to replace the Marines who were sent on to France.

While in England, I drove a Ford ambulance, a motorcycle with sidecar, and a Ford car for visiting dignitaries. Others walked. After some weeks in England, I requested a meeting with the commanding officer of the area, Colonel Jones of the 6^th Cavalry. I asked to be sent to France, and he explained to me that he, too, wanted to go to France but had to stay where he was ordered.

I finally got an assignment to escort an officer to France who had been left behind by his original unit. In France, I had various assignments and was at several locations. After Armistice Day I was assigned to a prisoner-of-war escort company to return prisoners back to Germany.

After two years with the AEF (American Expeditionary Force), I returned home on the USS Pocahontas in January 1920. I was paid $143.90, including a $60 bonus.

Returning Home

I went home to visit my parents, then decided to get a quick education in shorthand and typewriting at a business school in Oklahoma City. After four months of school, I got a job at the post office, working 4:00 p.m. to midnight. I was paid 60¢ an hour. In one month, I had enough money to take the train to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where I got a job in the freight soliciting office of the White Star Line Steamship Company. I also had a night job with the Great Northwest Telegraph Company.

During the winter of 1921, I went to New York and got a job in the bond department of the prestigious Bankers Trust Company at 5^th Avenue and 42^nd Street. I used as my reference the Oakwood, Oklahoma, bank where I had worked at age 15.

The steamship business had more appeal for me, but first I had to have some experience at sea. I got my first sea job with the old Munson Line as assistant purser of the ship, Western World, bound for Buenos Aires. I spent several years with the Grace Line, in both cargo and passenger ships on the west coast of South America, where an intimate knowledge of the countries and language was required.

World War II

In 1940, I accepted an assignment to expedite the movement of cargoes for the American President Lines in Manila. Unfortunately for me, my stay was extended by the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941. I spent three-and-a-half years in Japanese prison camps at Santo Tomas and Los Banos. We were rescued by the 11^th Airborne Division on 23 February 1945.

Home Again

Life in San Francisco was pleasant after World War II. On 14 September 1946, I married Audrey Mayo of Pleasanton, California. She was born on a ranch, and my people were landowners and farmers for generations, so we decided it was time to give up foreign assignments and come back to the land. We came to Gap View Farm near Charles Town, West Virginia, in January 1954, to reside in the area where my forefather, Robert Buckles, his wife, and 15 other families settled in 1732.

Frank Buckles continued to work on his farm and, up until the age of 106 still drove his tractor. His wife Audrey has passed and Mr. Buckles lived with his daughter, Susannah near Charles Town, West Virginia, until his death at the age of 110.