Remarks of Secretary Paige, Emma E. Booker Elementary School, Sarasota, FL
FOR RELEASE:
September 11, 2002
I want to thank you, Superintendent Hamilton, for that introduction and Principal Rigell for inviting us back.
I also want to thank my good friend, Frank Brogan. After the experience we shared here a year ago today, it is particularly meaningful for me to be at your side again now.
I will never forget.
The President turned and said to me: "Rod, I have an emergency and I have to go back to Washington. I need for you to handle this."
And he got on Air Force One and left. And Frank and I continued with the program, talking about the President's Reading First initiative and the need for every child to learn this one skill on which all others depend—reading.
A month later, back in Washington, I was riding with the President in his car and I said, "Oh by the way, Mr. President, you know how much I appreciate your goal to Leave No Child Behind. But I noticed you had no problem leaving your Secretary of Education behind!"
But I'm glad he did. This school will forever hold a special place in my memories. And I'm grateful for this opportunity to join you in answering the President's call to observe this Patriot Day.
Uppermost in my thoughts and my prayers today are some of our greatest patriots—America's teachers and principals.
Our teachers and principals are the quiet heroes of 9-11.
As news of the tragedies unfolded live on TV, millions of moms and dads looked up from their work and their first thought was their children.
And who was there to protect them? Thousands of educators nationwide.
They sheltered our children when they needed it most. They went the extra mile. And while the world as we knew it changed forever, America's educators carried on in the truest spirit of those called to this noble profession.
One of those heroes of 9-11 was Pat Hymel, the principal of Hoffman-Boston Elementary in Arlington, Virginia.
Yesterday I spoke at the National Press Club and I told Pat's story. Right after the planes hit the World Trade Centers, she called her husband who worked at the Pentagon and she said, "How thick are those walls?"
And when a teacher rushed into her office to say a plane had crashed nearby, she had a funny feeling that its target had been the Pentagon. Something told her that the love of her life, the father of her children, the man she still loved to dance with in the kitchen—was gone. Just like that.
But despite that feeling, she put her own fears aside, because the children come first.
Hours later, after all the students had been safely delivered into the arms of their parents, Pat learned that her instincts had been correct.
Her husband, Lt. Col. Robert Hymel, died when Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
World War II General Omar Bradley put it best when he said: Teachers are the real soldiers of democracy. Others can defend it, but only they can make it work.
General Bradley was right. Without our educators, we would have no schools and our children would have no future. And I thank each and every one of you for making a profound difference for our nation—one child at a time.
Today is not only a day of remembrance, but also a day of reflection—reflection on our blessings as Americans—and reflections on our freedoms that so many have sacrificed so much to defend.
Today we think of those service men and women whose sacrifice continues around the world—and they do it so each of us can enjoy the freedoms of life and liberty that our Founding Fathers envisioned so long ago.
I hope all of you will join me and school children coast to coast one week from today, on September 17th, at 2 o'clock Eastern Daylight Time, as we join in the Pledge Across America.
The words of the Pledge of Allegiance hold even more meaning today.
Now, more than ever, we must draw from the well of courage and faith that has long sustained us as a nation. And we must continue working, compassion and determination, to make the world a better place.
Coming here today, I noticed that the street out front there is Dr. Martin Luther King Way. And it reminded me of the words of Robert F. Kennedy so long ago when he heard of the death of Dr. King. He called on Americans to join together "to tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world."
This day is a reminder that that noble goal is still ours to achieve.
God bless you all. And God bless America.
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