Keynote Address - ADDA Memorial Service 2004

 

Fess Parker’s Speech to the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association to be delivered at 7:00 PM, March 6, 2004

 

The opportunity that Walt Disney gave me to play Davy Crockett and to experience a re-creation of the battle of the Alamo is one of the most memorable times of my life. From the beginning of film history, over the course of about 100 years, almost every generation has had a retelling of this story. I feel that I speak for all the other actors who participated in those versions in saying how powerful is the impact of this hallowed ground and the sacrifices that were made by the men who defended the Alamo. It’s certainly a symbol for all time and I will talk more about symbols later on…

 

There is a connection between then and now in the eternal struggle to retain our democracy.

 

Having said that, as recently as February 24th, George Tenet, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency said that, “The world was at least as fraught with danger as it was a year ago, despite the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq and successes in dismantling the leadership of Al Qaeda.” 

 

Most worrying, Mr. Tenet said, “the radical anti-American sentiments and destructive expertise used by Al Qaeda have spread to other Sunni Muslim extremists who are behind the next wave of terrorism that will endure for the foreseeable future with or without Al Qaeda in the picture.”

 

Clearly, we are still at war and still under siege. 

 

Pause

 

So, you and I are meeting here this evening at a major crossroad in how we view our history and its impact for our future.

 

Getting back to symbols, the Office of the President of the United States is an important symbol for our country as well.  Our President represents each of us and his decisions reflect our goals and challenges.  In a democracy, opinions and beliefs are the currency of the day; everyone’s entitled. But we as a nation are lessened by irresponsible challenges and disrespectful actions directed at the symbols that define us: such as our belief in God, the American flag and how we respect our country.

 

Seventy years after our Constitution was put in place, our differences divided this country under President Abraham Lincoln -- even before he could be sworn in to office.  The Confederate States left the union in their hearts, their minds and their property.  The resulting attack on the president was brutal.  But through those trying days, the idea of one country, indivisible held firm according to President Lincoln’s convictions.

 

Our president today faces perhaps the greatest challenge in our history -- to protect our country from the threat of Al Qaeda and terrorists worldwide. Attempts to accomplish mindless violence, like the first attack on New York’s World Trade Center in 1993, failed.  Then came 9/11! That attack changed the world for each and every one of us.

 

Do we have any doubt that they will try again?  Do we doubt that if they had the bomb they would not use it in this country? 

 

To me there is some correlation between what happened at the Alamo and what happened on 9/11 in New York.  In both cases we lost lives. In both cases our people were galvanized and brought to a unity of purpose, and a renewed commitment to freedom and independence.

 

Pause

 

Sadly today, many in our country have relegated this present war to a divisive political issue and not reality. America today, relative to our present peril, suffers from a form of attention deficit disorder perhaps because television has given us the power to change the subject if we are uncomfortable.

 

I would like to say how unfortunate I think it is that some politicians and members of the media who are critical of the war, constantly invoke the day by day casualties in Iraq. Critics and political opponents who criticize the way we are fighting a world wide enemy like Al Qaeda, should come forward with a solution or be supportive. Failing that, let them describe the appeasement that can relieve us of this threat of violence and destruction to our daily lives.

 

Further, let me remind you, this is a war of unknown dimension. We have no idea how long it will last. It is the first war where casualties can be anywhere from sea to shining sea.

 

In his book, The Enemy Within, Michael Savage said this about the media: “Ironically our war to remove the brutal terrorizing dictator of Iraq has been one of the most brilliantly executed military efforts in American history. What the media refuses to tell you is this: apart from the nation building expenses that follow every war this engagement in Iraq and the Gulf War combined, cost less in loss of life and dollars than any other military action.”

 

In our country’s history, over a million one hundred sixty seven thousand Americans have died fighting for the preservation of freedom and our way of life; from the War of Independence, to the Alamo, and right up to Iraq today.

 

With casualties in Iraq substantially below one thousand today, you can draw your own conclusions as to how successful that effort is relative to other wars. Clearly our military leaders and our troops have done a superb job.

 

A friend sent me the following information that appeared in a Durham, North Carolina local paper as a letter to the editor. It read:

 

“Liberals claim President Bush shouldn’t have started this war. (Iraq never attacked us.) They complain about his prosecution of it. One liberal recently claimed Bush was the worst president in U.S. history.

 

Let’s clear up one point: We didn’t start the war on terror. Try to remember, it was started by terrorists BEFORE 9/11. Let’s look at the “worst” president and mismanagement claims.

 

FDR led us into World War Two. Germany never attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea: North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,333 per year. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962: Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.

 

President Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us. Clinton was offered Osama bin Laden’s head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

 

In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled Al Qaeda, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

 

We lost 600 soldiers. Bush did all this abroad while not allowing another terrorist attack at home. Worst president in history?”   I don’t think so.

 

Another new but important symbol to our nation is Homeland Security. The men and women of Homeland Security are continuing to work to prevent violence on our soil. Isn’t it likely that quiet acts of heroism occur regularly by the individuals involved in Homeland Security?

 

There are many other symbols that evidence who we are: the statements on our currency “In God We Trust,” slogans over libraries and public buildings, our U. S. flag and the symbol of our President are included among these.  Disrespect for or failure to preserve our valued symbols weakens us as a nation.   Not promoting these symbols to our children weakens our future. In this nation, at this time, in many instances the majority rules idea of a Democracy is turned upside down and the minority rules via renegade judges and people who ignore the law.

 

I believe that the idea of political correctness has created a fear that sometimes maims the spirit of this great nation. Revisionists are rewriting our history to fit a self-serving agenda; news accounts on everything from the assassination of JFK, as interpreted by Oliver Stone, to the Passion of the Christ, as interpreted by Mel Gibson are manipulated.  Some people give interpretations of history to suit their own agendas.

 

This applies to the Alamo as well. What the Alamo Defenders died for represents a lasting impact on the legacy of who we are and as such, the Alamo is both a symbol and a national treasure.

 

Pause

 

My friend Hal Fishman, a television anchor in Los Angeles for Channel 5, said recently, “Sometimes facts are less helpful than perception and the symbol becomes extremely important.”

 

Opinions may differ as to what actually happened at the Alamo. But, why not take the greatness of the action and forgo any speculation. Relegate speculation to the footnotes, not the headlines.

 

And what’s the point of not taking the greater good from an event? The Defenders of the Alamo, once they made the decision to stay and fight, essentially signed their own death warrants; yet they fought on and were killed. And for the Defender’s ideals and their sacrifice, the Alamo has become a symbol for bravery and courage worldwide.

 

And from Alamo history, phrases were generated for future crises impacting America: “Remember the Maine,” “Remember Pearl Harbor,” “Remember Wake Island.”

 

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that we are in another war, not the one that I have been talking about but one that may be much more dangerous than anything that can come to us from over seas. That is the fact that our core values are at risk.

 

Who is not disturbed by the culture of today? How do we restore our nation to the basic values that seem cast to the wind in all stratus of our lives? We must educate our children to respect our symbols and remind ourselves to respect our historical values. Or we could be divided again or worse.

 

Americans need to learn or rediscover our history by reading of our great heritage through the values contributed by the patriots of our wars for independence and by giants in our history: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln and other courageous leaders throughout our history.  We can meet the challenges presented to us in our time, by rekindling in our hearts and our minds, that ghostly yell from our troops at San Jacinto that can still be heard through history: “Remember the Alamo.”

 

Thank you and goodnight.