Good morning and welcome to the Reagan Library. For those of you ive not yet had the pleasure of meeting, my name is david trulio and i have the privilege of serving as president of the Ronald Reagan foundation and institute. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate what would have been president reagans 113th birthday. I would like to begin by recognizing some of the special guests with us today. From the reagan family, president reagans son, michael. President reagans granddaughter ashley and her husband joe. Former congressman Elton Gallegly and his wife, janice. Former congresswoman mimi walters. The mayor of simi valley, fred thomas. Members of the simi valley city council, mike judge and alain lister. We also have with us today the following members of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan president ial foundation and institute. Please hold your applause. We have kathy bush and her daughter charlotte, former labor secretary and transportation secretary elaine chao, former president assistance to Ronald Reagan, peggy noonan, former u. S. Solicitor ted olson and pete wilson and the former first lady of california, mrs. Gail wilson. I am so pleased to introduce our chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan president ial foundation and institute, fred ryan. Fred has served president and mrs. Reagan since 1980 in a variety of roles, including director of president ial appointments and scheduling in the white house and as president reagans first post presidency chief of staff. Today in addition to serving as our board chairman, fred heads our new center on civility and democracy, which was launched last year to address through Actionable Solutions the depolar station and decision depolarizations and divisions in our society. With that, mr. Fred ryan. Fred thank you, dave, for that kind introduction. Please be seated. As dave mentioned, seeing the divisions and the serious threats to our democracy, weve launched this new center on civility and democracy and it was created to advance principles of civil discourse, collaboration, and dialogue on the political process on social media and on university campuses. As president reagan once said, democracy is not a fragile flower, still it needs cultivating. And no one lived that more than Ronald Reagan and perhaps our special keynote speaker today who shares president reagans vision of human rights, freedom and democracy around the world. So today we gather to celebrate president reagans 113th birthday or as he would have described it, the 74th anniversary of his 39th birthday. But before we begin our program, id like to say how delighted and honored we are to have the president lequaessa today and is here with the executive director of the foundation who happens to be his soninlaw, adam diminski and two members of the board. Thank you all for joining us today. And of course our very special thanks to all the service men and women here today from Camp Pendleton. This is the Reagan Librarys 19th year in working with Camp Pendleton to pay tribute to president reagan on his birthday and were honored to have the support of our service men and women, such an important military installation and i know on behalf of everyone here and im sure on behalf of all americans, thank you for honoring our country. Now to officially begin our program in honor of the 113th birthday of Ronald Wilson reagan, please rise for the march on of the colors, the playing of our National Anthem and the invocation by chaplain wayne mccraig, captain United States navy. Attention color guard. All together. Forward. Color guard. [the star spangled banner plays] color guard. Together. March. Would you please bow your heads with me for prayer. Back in 1984, president reagan uttered the following. I believe that faith and religion play a Critical Role in the political life of our nation and always have, and that the church, and by that i mean all churches, has had a Strong Influence on the state, and this has worked to our benefit as a nation. Those who created our country, the Founding Fathers and mothers understood that there is a define order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion. Our father above, today we gather to remember your servant president Ronald Reagan. We remember the wisdom which recognized that we humans are not the final arbiters of all things. Nor are we even the majority member in all things. But grasp the truth that the world is yours and we are actors in it. President reagan understood that our institutions function better when they seek the bedrock of identity when it comes from a transcendent creator. He understood that moral order and reasoning have their genesis in you. And that the institutions of humankind work best when they allow for and adhere to your moral order. Father, may your presence guide our remembrance in this hour, help us to not only enjoy story and memory but lead us to understand from lived example and see before us the path that our great nation needs to follow. May we live in a manner worthy of the blessings we seek from you. Amen. Chaplain mccray, please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, its now my pleasure to welcome a man with a distinguished record of service to our country, including that of being an f18 pilot at miramar and then Commanding Officer at miramar, multiple deployments and operations around the world, commanding general of the marine base Brigadier General jason whitworth. General thank you, mr. Ryan and mr. Trulio and the incredible staff at the Reagan Library. I was going to make a joke for the tent but i dont think its raining that much. Thank you for the tent and everything do you every day for the guests in memory of our great president. Good morning, distinguished guests. And thank you for the warm welcome. Its an honor to be with you here today to commemorate the birthday of our 40th president Ronald Reagan. On behalf of the marine corps and sailors of Camp Pendleton and the west coast, thank for you inviting us to participate in honoring this great american. Special welcome to the true icon of democracy and fellow defender of freedom. First id like to thank the marines from Camp Pendleton supporting todays ceremony, including the First Marine Division band. Theyre warriors and also amazing musicians. The Marine Corps Air station Camp Pendleton color guard. And marines from headquarters support battalion serving as todays honor guard. Your dedication exemplifies the Service Today and i thank for you representing our institution so well. President reagan served in a time of uncertainty with the threat of Nuclear Warfare at every turn. Elementary School Children like myself were taught to duck and cover in their classrooms while he formulated some of the boldest diplomatic strategies in history, leading our nation, increasing our military might, limiting soviet expansion, and negotiating with a highly effective and tenacious spirit. He engaged gorbachev and others with respect, empathy, and conviction through his ability to try to understand their perspective and communicate with them. That conviction led to conviction and didnt waiver in crisis and embodied executive accountability. When a terrorist bombing took the lives of 220 marines in beirut, lebanon, he said the words, if there is to be blame, it probably rests here in this office and with this president. I take responsibility for the bad as well as the good. Reagan stood with the American People as a stanchion of hope and leading by example in each of his days as president. He instilled his military with a sense of pride and unwavering leadership, emphasizing that service is a proceed found investment and betterment of humankind. The Reagan Library stands today as a reminder of our history, the permanent exhibits captured here show president reagans patriotic spirit, respect for individual liberty and belief in global democracy. It provides a glimpse of the impact president reagan made on our world. And as we leave here today after this ceremony, let us each consider the role we play in preserving the ideals president reagan held so dear. May we draw inspiration from his leadership and face future challenges with the same courage and conviction that defined his presidency. Thank you very much, semper fidel us and god bless america. Thank you, general, for those inspiring words. Were here today to honor and celebrate the life and legacy of president reagan. President reagan stood for freedom and democracy around the world. And he would be so incredibly honored that his fellow freedom fighter, his friend who traveled all the way from poland to be in california to celebrate with us today. President reagan once said that lech walesa symbolizes hope, justice, and Human Dignity to all americans and to countless millions of people around the world. And here at the Ronald Reagan president ial foundation and institute, we couldnt agree more. In fact, we believe so strongly in his principles we awarded president walesa, the distinguished president reagan Freedom Award not once but twice, the only twotime recipient of that prestigious award. Im proud to be able to say i had the good fortune of being able to travel with president reagan the first time he met lech walesa in poland when he was a rising force for democracy but before the polish people had elected him to be their president. Tens of thousands of people had gathered since the earliest hours of the morning at that shipyard to see president reagan. And it was pouring rain, something we all can relate to here. In fact, it was raining so hard the decision had to be made to have the two men meet privately inside and with the hopes that the rain would lighten up enough for them to be able to join the crowd that had gathered for the rally. I have to admit, once inside, awed in the presence of lech walesa, i had a signing pen i hoped he would sign for me as a memento of that historic occasion but maybe it was the fact he was new to politics and the language barrier but i handed him the photo and he looked at it and smiled and folded it up and put it in his pocket and said thank you very much. So i was hoping maybe he would bring that photo back to me today. So following up on the private meeting president reagan and lech walesa had, they went outside to address the crowd. And not a Single Person had left. And president reagan stood before them and tried to thank the crowd. And every time he spoke, the crowd would continuously start to sing a song. And i would wait and start to sing again and theyd come back with a song and wouldnt speak and he returned to lech walesa, what are they singing . And he turned to him and said it was a song to the president and what they were saying in polish is may you live 100 years. Though president reagan lived to be 93, we tip to honor him on the anniversary of his birth and it seems quite fitting president walesa be with us today to deliver the keynote remarks. And mr. Walesa, though were sheltered from the rain today, i can tell you with pretty high confidence, we all would stand in the pouring rain because of our high sentiments for you. So please join me in welcoming one of the greatest champions of freedom and democracy in our time, the former president of poland, lech walesa. Thank you very much. Id rather get all the applause at the end, not the beginning. Ill try to work for it. Ladies and gentlemen, i turn 80 in september. My life is almost ending. So i decided to summarize my life and talk about interesting subjects during such gathering. I was not prepared to do the job that i was given in this world. And my success in life was tremendous, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others. And id like to give you some remarks, and this world might be even greater than mind. Because you have many possibilities here than i ever had. You are more educated than i am. You have more money than i did. So is the mother of willingness and if you try it hard enough, then the victory will be yours. So you have to understand the challenges of the world that we currently live in. Because i was able only to understand what was happening around me. I had nothing against theory, but from theory i only took what worked for me and to what i was able to implement. And i was always very practical when i was looking at the world. And the world was always divided. But when the world was developing, it was bringing the structures to the achievements. Because when you look at the world today, all the countries that were growing were basically incorporating the smaller countries. Very often by force. Up until the end of the 20th century, thats the way it was happening. But at the end of the 19th century there was a new concept, in order to expand it was through technology. And the concept is now that we expand the european union, nato, the united nations. And the old world order, president reagan was the one that started to destroy the old world order. Im just wondering if he knew that this was the way the world has to go or just the way it happened to be so. Then together with reagan, we are able to destroy the old world order. And we overthrew the old world order so we could build a better one. So the first step we did is done. But the second step we have to discuss how the new world order will look like. Maybe you dont see it here because you live in such a big country, but in europe you can see it better. There are so many different small countries. There are so many borders. Two world wars started in europe. And how many revolutions . But today there are no borders, the development is pretty much the same. But now we hit a wall. So in order to keep on winning, in order to implement this new world order, we need a country that would be a leader. So no country in the world, not even the United States can deal with the programs that are introduced in the world today. Its not important but has many other issues. Its possible we could destroy the life on this planet. Unless we reorganize the world so we can tackle all the issues that challenge the world today. So in this revolution. So i believe the globalization, that the preparation for the entire continent of those issues belongs and should belong to the United States of america. Because if you do not lead, then i do not see a good solution in the world. Because when it comes to continent, countries that lead to certain continents can take care of it. The revolutionary, i know we have to go towards this direction. Because you have invested so much in so many different places. So there are two, three subjects that i can put the definition of the issue. That we have to resolve together the first subject. Well, because the countries in europe are divided, they develop harm to each other. So you cannot develop if you cannot create clear sentiments everyone agrees on. So what we have together that we can build upon. So when i present the problem in a gathering like this, so there are usually two different concepts. That half of the world wants to build this world on basically law and all kinds of freedoms and liberties and this would be the Common Ground that would connect us all together. The other half says no, thats not a good idea. First, we have to agree on the values that will lead us. And then we can talk about the law and then we can talk about free economy. And this is the problem, the division the world cannot get out from. Because one side does one thing and the other side on the other. And then we have a second problem afterwards. What kind of an economical system can we base on for europe and then the other world. As you know, there are different economical systems, democracy and capitalism. The economy looks better on paper. Thats why so many people feel attracted to it. Well, thats something very nice, you know, justice, equality, this, that and the other. Yeah, that sounds nice. But what the young people do not realize it will never work. So please, throw away the idea of a common state system. So what we have left, a free economy, capitalism. But smaller mark because capitalism means theres competition. Sometimes its not fair. Sometimes they say its a rat race between countries. Sometimes there is unemployment because nobody wants to help the losers but then you have to have a free economy and the other issues could be managed in a different manner. And the unemployed can be found and put to work. There are good jobs. And under the old capitalism, that was not possible. But know they are connecting together and continents and globalization is all possible. There is a third issue in our times today, how do we deal with demagogues, how do we deal with people who cheat, who are dishonest . You have to remember up until the end of the 20th century, because even though the nationalities and countries wouldnt admit everybody had god in their consciousness, they called god different names but it was always in the consciousness of a society. But we left it. We left that idea. We were afraid of the soviet union, but we took care of that. So now the question remains, so how do we keep nations, how do we keep the order in this world if you have no fear, if you have no stop sign . These are the issues that i can see. So i would like for you, the leader of the world, to think about that. And also to notice that all from the old system, the old structures from the old systems do not fit into the modern world. Because today some of the left parties have more rightwing programs than the rightwing parties. But the most interesting parties are the christian parties. They are yelling that they are christians but you do not have one person, one man of faith in there. In the old days, yeah, that worked. There is only one structure that works from the old days in todays world. Traffic laws. But today our political arena looks as if we took all the stop signs and all the street signs down. Because the old concept we have with the help of president reagan was overthrown. So that the technology that we built depends that we extend our structures. A lot of people are telling me we wont be able to communicate with each other because the technology was in this world like five times. We did have in the past other technology and today we are not able to build that. And that was destroyed. So the question is, are we going to get destroyed as well as a civilization, or are we going to move forward . Because if we do not start the work right here, right now, the life on this planet will end. Adam and eve will come back and well start from the beginning. I know, forgive me, i know this is not the place and time for this type of subject. But i feel responsible. I think this is my responsibility to talk about it so you can succeed. Well, thats all i wanted to say. Thank you very much for listening to me. Well, thank you, president walesa for those great insights and reflections, the position you held and close relationship you had with president reagan give you a truly unique perspective on Ronald Reagan and his enduring legacy. And may i say on behalf of all of us may you live 100 years. Now, may i ask everyone to please rise for laying of the wreath and honors to president reagan. Honor guard. Attention. The president of the United States is directed that a president ial wreath be laid at the resting place of all former president s on the anniversary of their birth. Brigadier general jason g. Woodworth, commanding general of Camp Pendleton, california, is designated to place a wreath at the tomb of the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Wilson reagan on february 6,2024, in honor of the 113th anniversary of his birthday and in tribute to his distinguished service to a grateful nation. Honor guard. Present arms. [taps plays] may i ask everyone to remain standing for the retiring of the colors and the conclusion of the ceremony with anchors away and the marines hymn. [anchors away plays] honor guard, attention. This concludes the ceremony. Birthday cake will be served in the president ial learning center. You dont have to blow out 113 candles to have a piece of it. Thank you all for joining us