REMARKS AT MILTON ACADEMY BY GEORGE BUSH DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000100040015-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2001
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: June 11, 1976
• Content Type: SPEECH

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REMARKS AT
7 MILTON ACADEMY
BY
1 GEORGE BUSH
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
11 JUNE 1976
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MILTON ACADEMY GRADUATION SPEECH
I HAVE REALLY BEEN WORRYING ABOUT THIS GRADUATION SPEECH.
I THOUGHT I WAS NERVOUS WHEN I WENT UP BEFORE THE U. S. SENATE
FOR MY JOB AS AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, OR CERTAINLY FOR
MY PRESENT JOB.-BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS...
TOO MANY RELATIVES OUT THERE.
I HAD ONE BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT--I JUST WANT TO SAY, NO MATTER
WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD, THAT MY NEPHEW, JOE ELLIS, IS NOT, NOR HAS HE
EVER BEEN, A CIA AGENT.
AFTER THE GREAT SHOW LAST FALL IN THE NOBLE'S, HOCKEY GAME WHEN
MILTON WAS BEHIND, WHAT WAS IT--4 TO 1 AT THE END OF THE SECOND PERIOD,
AND CAME BACK FROM UTTER DISASTER TO WIN IT 5-4 IN THE FINAL GAME,
I EXPECT SOME MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THE WHOLE MILTON TEAM HAD BEEN
NEFARIOUSLY RECRUITED, PERHAPS WITH CIA HELP, BUT WRONG AGAIN....
'TODAY I WANT TO SAY JUST A FEW WORDS ABOUT COMMITMENT, CREDIBLE
COMMITMENT.
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DUE TO THE TURMOIL OVER VIETNAM, OUR.COUNTRY WENT THROUGH
A PERIOD WHERE MANY OF YOUR PREDECESSORS,. WHEN FINISHING MILTON--
OR ANY OTHER OF OUR GREAT SCHOOLS LIKE MILTON, EMBARKED ON. PROGRAMS
NOT TO GIVE, BUT TO FIND.
NOT TO GIVE TO COUNTRY, OR STATE, OR COMMUNITY, BUT TO FIND
FIND THEMSELVES.
THEY SEARCHED. SOME FOUND, MANY DIDN'T.
FOR SOME IT WAS SERIOUS, FOR MANY IT WAS ESCAPE. BUT THERE
WAS A DOWNSIDE COMMONALTY TO ALL OF THIS, IN MY VIEW;, AND THAT WAS-
A LACK OF COMMITMENT.....COMMITMENT TO ANYTHING OTHER THAN ONE'S SELF.
LET ME GIVE YOU THREE BRIEF EXAMPLES OF WHAT I MEAN BY COMMITMENT,
FOR COMMITMENT CAN BE DIFFICULT.
LAST YEAR, NEAR DAIREN IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, WE
WENT HIGH ATOP A STONE MOUNTAIN TO VISIT HO MU PRODUCTION BRIGADE
OF YING CHENG TZU PEOPLE'S COMMUNE. I WAS THE GUEST OF THE CHINESE
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICE, AND THEY WERE TAKING MRS. BUSH AND ME TO
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SOME OUT OF THE WAY SPOT (OUT OF THE WAY FOR FOREIGN VISITORS AT
LEAST). WE WENT TO THE GLASS FACTORY AND TO THE PORT AND TO THE
LOCOMOTIVE FACTORY. AT EACH PLACE WE GOT LECTURES ON THE DEDICATION
OF THE PEOPLE TO CHAIRMAN MAO AND TO HIS REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES.
THE STATE AND PARTY WERE SUPREME.
CHINA HAS MADE REMARKABLE STRIDES IN MINIMAL HEALTH CARE FOR
ALL, IN FOOD FOR 900 PLUS MILLION PEOPLE, IN CUTTING DOWN ON STREET
CRIME--ALMOST TO THE POINT OF ELIMINATION--IN MANY AREAS, BUT ONLY
AFTER I HAD BEEN THERE AWHILE DID I GET THE STRONG FEELING ABOUT
.THE COMMITMENT OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE.
OUR BUS WORKED ITS WAY TWO-THIRDS OF THE WAY UP THIS STONEY
MOUNTAIN--THEN WE RAN OUT OF ROAD AND WE WALKED THE REST OF THE WAY.
THE LEADER OF THE HO MU BRIGADE WAS 35 YEARS OLD. HE BEGAN TO
TELL US ABOUT HIS WORK. THEY HAD PLANTED 30,000 PEACH FRUIT TREES,
HAULED OFF TONS OF ROCKS, DUG WATER WELLS, AND HAULED UP TONS OF
FERTILIZER.
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I LOOK AROUND AT ONE UNTOUCHED SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, A
BARREN STONE COVERED HILL, SINISTER AND UNPRODUCTIVE--AND THEN I
LOOKED AT THE WORK THAT THIS MAN AND HIS PEOPLE WERE DOING--ROW
UPON ROW OF PEACH TREES, TINY LITTLE SHOOTS, STUCK IN THE FORMIDABLE
HILL SIDE. THE ROCKS HAD BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY UNEARTHED. THEY HAD
BEEN USED TO FORM AND SHAPE THE ROWS UPON WHICH THE TREES WERE
PLANTED.
ALL DONE BY HAND, THEY HAD MADE TERRACED ROW UPON TERRACED
ROW FOR THE TREES TO GROW.. THEY HAD FASHIONED AN AQUEDUCT SYSTEM
TO POUR WATER ON THE LITTLE TREES, THEY HAD MOVED TON AFTER TON
OF ROCKS. THEY HAD WORKED IN BLISTERING HEAT AND FRIGHTFUL COLD.
THEY WORKED LONG, LONG HOURS. THEY TRUDGED MILES UP AND DOWN THIS
MOUNTAIN.
THEIR WORK WAS IMPRESSIVE, BUT MORE IMPRESSIVE WAS THE OBVIOUS
COMMITMENT OF THIS COMMUNE LEADER AND HIS COWORKERS. HE GAVE US
A LECTURE ON THE LIBERATION (WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEFORE MAO) AND WHAT
STRIDES HAD BEEN MADE SINCE--ALL OF THIS I HAD HEARD BEFORE, BUT
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THE THING THAT WAS REALLY IMPRESSIVE WAS THE SENSE OF PURPOSE,
THE DEDICATION, THE WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE--THE COMMITMENT IF
YOU WILL. THIS MAN WAS COMMITTED TO CHAIRMAN MAO, TO HIS PRINCIPLES,
AND TO THE STATE.
EXAMPLE 2.....THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS, IN DOING HIS WORK WITH
KIDS FROM ONE OF PARIS' TOUGHEST STREET GANGS, TOLD THEM THIS STORY.
SOME TIME AGO THERE WAS ANOTHER GANG, MUCH LIKE YOUR GANG. THE WAY
ONE GOT INTO THE GANG WAS TO DO SOMETHING WRONG--TO BREAK A LAW,
TO OFFEND A TRADITION.
THE NEW KID, WANTING BADLY TO GET INTO THE GANG, WAS TOLD------
GO INTO THE CATHEDRAL AND GIVE A FALSE CONFESSION.
THE KID WENT OFF AND DID IT AND RETURNED "NOW AM I A MEMBER?"
NO, HE WAS TOLD. YOU MUST FIRST DO PENANCE.
GO INTO THE CATHEDRAL, WALK UP TO THE RUDE BEAM DURING THIS
LENT AND PASSION WEEK, AND SAY OUT LOUD THREE TIMES, "YOU DID IT FOR
ME AND I COULDN'T CARE LESS." THE KID WENT INTO THE LOVELY CATHEDRAL
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UP TO THE RUDE BEAM, "YOU DID IT FOR ME AND I COULDN'T CARE LESS---
YOU DID IT FOR ME"---AND HE STOPPED AND LEFT THE CHURCH.-
THE KIDS LISTENING TO THE ARCHBISHOP, NOW ENTHRALLED, SAID
WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOY...?
THE ARCHBISHOP LOOKED AT THEM----I WAS THAT BOY....
COMMITMENT? DEEP AND ABIDING COMMITMENT!
EXAMPLE 3.....A 47 YEAR OLD GREEK SCHOLAR SOME 10-15 YEARS-AGO
'WENT TO WORK FOR THE CIA. HE GRADUATED MAGNA CUM LAUDE FROM HARVARD
MAJORING IN GREEK HISTORY AND LITERATURE. HE STUDIED UNDER AND WAS
INFLUENCED BY HARVARD'S GREEK SCHOLARS, PROFESSORS DOW AND FINLEY.
HE SERVED IN SUICIDAL FOREIGN COUNTRIES. HE HAD A WIFE AND SOME KIDS.
HE LOVED MUSIC, HE LOVED GREECE AND GREEK. HE LOVED TENNIS,
POOL AND BILLIARDS. HE HATED CANT.
HE BELIEVED IN CIA'S MISSION.
HE WATCHED WITH SOME CONCERN, I AM SURE, AS SOME DISCOVERIES
CAME OUT ON SOME THINGS THAT WERE CLEARLY WRONG AT THE AGENCY TO
WHICH HE HAD DEVOTED HIS LIFE. I AM SURE HE WAS UPSET BY THESE
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REVELATIONS AND I AM EQUALLY SURE HE WAS UPSET BY THE REVELATIONS
THAT CAME OUT THAT WERE NOT TRUE.
HE CONCLUDED THAT HE WANTED TO CONTINUE TO SERVE IN THE
INTELLIGENCE BUSINESS. HE FELT HE WAS SERVING HIS COUNTRY
HONORABLY. HE WAS SERVING WITHOUT FANFARE, NO CEREMONIES, NO
CREDIT IN PUBLIC PLACES, NO GLORY. HE WAS SERVING BECAUSE HIS
-KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD, WHICH WAS CONSIDERABLE, MADE HIM CONCERNED
ABOUT THE THREAT--THE THREAT TO OUR COUNTRY THAT HE BELIEVED IN,
THE THREAT TO THE FREEDOMS THAT THE COMMUNE LEADER IN DAIREN WILL
NEVER HAVE THE LUXURY OF KNOWING, AND MORE PERSONALLY THE THREAT
THAT TOTALITARIANISM COULD IMPOSE ON THIS MAN'S LOVE OF HISTORY
AND CULTURE.
THIS MAN WAS TRULY COMMITTED--TO SOMETHING BEYOND HIMSELF.
I CALL IT LOVE OF COUNTRY, BUT THAT'S TOO EASY FOR THIS DEEPLY
THOUGHTFUL, HIGHLY CULTURED MAN. BUT THE FACT REMAINS, IN SERVING
THE AGENCY I NOW HEAD, HE WAS INDEED COMMITTED TO SOMETHING FAR
BIGGER THAN HIMSELF.
7
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TWO DAYS BEFORE LAST CHRISTMAS HE GOT OUT OF THE CAR IN FRONT
OF HIS HOUSE IN ATHENS, GREECE, HAVING DRIVEN HOME LATE AT NIGHT.
A TERRORIST, AN ASSASSIN, GUNNED HIM DOWN WITH HIS AUTOMATIC PISTOL
AND FLED.
RICHARD WELCH LAY DEAD.
RICHARD WELCH HAD BEEN COMMITTED TO FREEDOM.
TODAY YOU LEAVE THIS SCHOOL THAT HAS BEEN A MAJOR INFLUENCE
IN YOUR LIVES...WHERE YOU GO IS IMPORTANT--WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
IS IMPORTANT.
THE THING THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IS HOW YOU GET THERE. FOR
THE SAKE OF OUR COUNTRY, FOR THE SAKE OF THE BASIC VALUES THAT
HAVE SERVED US WELL FOR 200 YEARS, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU GET
THERE WITH COMMITMENT.
THANK YOU.
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