From where will my help come . My help comes from the lord he will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps israel will not shall not strike you by day nor chapter 40 versus 28 have you god the creator of the he does not faint or grow weary unsearchable. Even youths be faint and wary. Like eagles. They shall walk and not im congressman jim mcgovern from massachusetts. When Eleanor Roosevelt died it was said that ive lost more than a friend, ive lost an inspiration and thats the way i feel today. Deep down i know George Mcgovern is in a better place. Hes with eleanor and terri and steve. Who knows, he may even be president. But for so many of us it is difficult to say goodbye. It was always comforting to know that he was around reminding us we can do better, making it seem possible we could end all wars, eliminate hunger and poverty and create a world where all gods children are respected valued and loved. In 1972 as a seventh grader in massachusetts i did what i could to elect him president of the United States which i remind you all he did win massachusetts. [applause] [applause] i was later an intern in his Senate Office and i had the privilege to work with the incredible staff he assembled in washington d. C. And south dakota, some of the finest people i have ever known. We werent related it was just a coincidence we both had the same last name. But people would tell me they were longtime supporters of my dad. And they always seemed shocked when i told them my dad owned a liquor store in massachusetts. I urged them to keep supporting him. For 35 years i have been honored to call senator mcgovern my most treasured friend and i loved him very much. He was a great man but more importantly he was a good one. He had about him a decency, he was generous and kind. He was funny and had no patience for cynicism. He was passionate and principled but not dogmatic or selfright courthouse. He loved his family and friend and faith and American History and a good steak. He loved this great state of south dakota and my god, did he love his country. Even after the 1972 campaign, even after losing 49 states and losing his senate seat in 1980, he maintained his optimism and faith in government and his belief that americas best days were always ahead which he became a war hero a prd and congressman and a president ial nominee of his party. But he wasnt a dont you know who i am type of guy. We can all hear him saying to someone who knew perfectly well who he was, you know fred, i ran for president fred in 1972 which is not to say that he was about pride. This is a man who jumped out of an air plain at age 88. While he did that to raise knowledge about hunger. He wanted to prove he still had a little fly boy in him. He had a way with words, come home america, dont throw away your conscious. He was eloquent in moving but his actions were more powerful. There were millions and millions around the world who are not starving to death who have hope because of George Mcgoverns actions. Perhaps because he witnessed the horrors of war, he was a champion for peace. Not because he opposed all wars but because he knew that war all represents a failure of human imagination. Even when some have the audacity to question the war heroes patriotism. He refused to dream up new wars for men to die in. To susan and mayor and all the grandchildren, thank you for sharing him with us when it wasnt easy because there are many across the country who consider us his children. His incredible Public Service is also your Public Service and we will for ever be grateful. Thank you for giving thus Public Servant. As was said in the 1972 campaign he wanted a mcgovern presidency because george is such an ordinary man not in a regular sense but the presidency was designed for ordinary men not for larger than life men on horse back. If George Mcgovern were president he wouldnt stand for a c. I. A. Pushing people around. He wouldnt stand for price fixing or the people who work for wages and pay their taxes and he wouldnt try to prove his manhood by prolonging a war that shouldnt have started in the first place. Its a dam shame this happened to george because i dont know how long it will be until we have a president who feels like that. He was right. Our country missed an Incredible Opportunity in 1972. [applause] [applause] but even though George Mcgovern lost that election, that loss is not his legacy. Right now there is a family in new jersey that can put food on their table. Thats his legacythere is a little girl who has never heard his name who has. Enough to eat and is getting an education. Thats his legacy. And it is up to us to each and every one of us to carry that legacy forward. We love you senator. [applause] im garry heart of colorado. [applause] nations even great nations sometimes require a voice of conscience. George mcgovern was the voice of conscience for our nation in our time. The voice of conscience began with israel with its profits call israel back to their purpose and cause. In america George Mcgovern stood in the tradition of henry david author row of William Brian and more recently of Robert Kennedy and of Martin Luther king. When the wounded veteran in vietnam needed a voice he was there. When the hungry child in american poverty needed a voice, he was there. When women, minorities and young people sought to breakdown the barriers of a closed political system, his voice was there. When sinister voices corrupted the political system and haunted the corridors of power in washington, he was there to warn us. Voices of conscience make us uncomfortable. Our political system forces them to the march. Those made uncomfortable by George Mcgoverns voice of conscience dismissed him as a liberal in an age which rids liberalism. He was larger than any liberal particularly a nonniesed one. Liberals did not get elected and reelected in conservative states which they did not take on unpopular causes particularly in recent years and most of all liberals did not fly Dangerous Missions in defense of our nation. This made his many critics who avoided military service especially uncomfortable. Somewhere in some small town in this great land is the young man or a young woman who will learn of George Mcgovern and his voice. Some day that young man or woman drawn to action by his life as a shoice of conscience will rise up to call america home, to summon the better angels of our nature, to confront us with poverty and injustice and inquality. And to challenge us to live up to our constitutional promise. George mcgoverns voice is not gone, its simply baiting the voice of conscience that have the voice of their conviction. [applause] good afternoon. At his funeral about his life georges father was born in stern figure, not the kind of man who would toss a baseball around with the boys in the brother were talking baseball said let me see that baseball and they thought they were in trouble because their dad did and through threw it on a Straight Line to the corner of apparently a transformative experience. Either 65 or 66 years old told the boys that in an earlier life he had been a professional des moines, iowa that had an affiliation with the st. Louis to the formation dals minor league system. Cardinals and listened to them on the radio but now he had a much more personal connection with the whole notion of the st. Louis cardinals. Was it like to be a boy of 12 thats not unknown to a lot of over and read it back to front looking for the box scores and a and often game, he would call our house cardinals managed to sneak into the playoffs and win the world we had when theyre in the late one day, george said, another spring training game. Would you like to go with him . I said, sure. Other side of the state, to their spring training we got what family members will getting to the game which i will not go into great newspaper story, it would have the headline, late, on time, and 100 Miles Per Hour in the we had a wonderful time at the we sat in the sun, we got the cardinals won. There was a close play at baseman got knocked over. Georges dad had been a second to play second base, like his you got run over all time. At the end of the game, we got would you like to meet tony la the game was over, we walked the Atlanta Braves coach. We sat around and talked it was just a wonderful happened rest of the year. Would say, can you believe it, but he got to me tony la russa. This was really a wonderful they became sort of telephone y anyway, the last few weeks, george ended up in the cardinals ended up in the again. The hospice, his eyes were the cardinals are ahead, they talk to us about how good he felt that the cardinals were it to the world series this unfortunately, george did not d they both just sort of ran out as a great privilege to we were real fans of his, [applause] i am deeply honored to be here today and to have the opportunity to share some thoughts. I joined congressman mcgovern, senator hart, all of those assembled here, and all the thousands who wished they could be here, to express our heartfelt condolences and deep sympathy to you and the extended family. I know i speak for the family in expressing our gratitude and deep appreciation to all of those very distinguished visitors, who in some cases have traveled great distances to be here, on the celebration of georges life. When george accepted his partys nomination, he offered this benediction. May god grant each of us the wisdom to cherish this good land and meet the great challenge that beckons us all home. Now that he is beckoned home, we will always be grateful for the ways that, through his life, through his work, and through his vision, and george lifted us far higher in meeting that challenge. Someone asked st. Francis of assisi what it takes to live a good life. He replied, preached the gospel every day, if necessary, use words. I have never known anybody who preached the gospel more affectively in so many ways than george. A peacemaker. A humanitarian. A teacher. The minister. A congressman. A senator. A voice for the voiceless. And a champion for hungry children. In some ways, georges adult life began in war. When asked about his military service, he would always minimize his heroism. But the fact is, if he had done nothing after reaching the age of 25 years old, today, we would be celebrating the life of an american hero. 35 missions in a b24. And as we said last night, it would have been more if the war had gone on. One more close call, shrapnel penetrate the winter of that one. Nearly killing him, a blown wheel, an emergency landing. And on his 35th and final mission, so much fire and flak. When they landed, they counted the holes in his fuselage and wings, and it numbered 110. Georges life was not an easy one. He saw more than his fair share of our chips and loss. He fought many battles beyond the ones in the airplane. The hits he sustained in world war ii were easier to see, but in truth, he was riddled like that inside much of his life. But it was through his incredible sense of humor, his determination to soldier on and set the example for others. Has he shrugged over the tragic loss of terry, he observed, you just never get over it. I am sure of that. You get to where you can live with it. That is all. George outlive two children, taken too soon, terry and steve. And his beloved eleanor. In light of all that, there is a certain blessing in knowing that as he left us as he did, peacefully, with family and friends around, i do not know about you, but i love the thought that george and eleanor, terry and steve, are all together now. Throughout his life, as we all know, he had a love for mitchell. Mitchell was his home. It is where he studied at dakota wesleyan. Where he built his library when he returned home to continue his Productive Work in his last several years. And in many ways, it is all where it started. George and eleanor had four small children when he decided, in 1955, to resign as chairman of the History Department at dakota wesleyan and build the Democratic Party. Their friends agreed there could only be one explanation for this decision. He was out of his mind. Actually, and george insisted there was another explanation. He said he had a desire to work in Public Service and be part of the world of ideas and the field of action. The hallmark of his career was his drive to bridge the gap between those worlds, to turn ideas into action, and aspirations into reality. His early years are now the stuff of legend and lore. Crisscrossing the state of south dakota, shaking hands, collecting names on 3 by 5 index cards. To this day, i think duty has them all. Who could forget the classic story in his autobiography grass roots and you know which one i am talking about. He was at the state fair. I stood on the wet, cold sought in front of the dismally small tent, he wrote there was no floor, i had no literature. I had no coffee, no elected officials. What is more, the gop had a live elephant. [laughter] when a democrat stop by and offered him the use of his donkey, george jumped at the chance, drove 14 miles in his chevy, a car, not a pickup, and there was the first multiple political disaster. The donkey had sent one of his hooves through the window, blood all over the car, relieved himself on a nun, bit the little girl, and pulled the whole tent down. I have never trusted donkeys since, georgia wrote. George wrote. They deserve to be called asses. [laughter] [applause] and it was not until i was Senate Majority leader that i fully realized the value of that statement. [laughter] he soon created an organization that enabled him to be the biggest votegetter in the state, 1966, and won a seat in the conference, becoming the first democrat to be sent to washington from south dakota in 22 years. He immediately became a force to reckon with, introducing a farm bill the very first day. Over the course of several months, passed more legislation than any one of the 44 new members who had come in with him at the same time. His constituents were the people for whom he fought. They were south dakota families barely holding on to their family farms. They were common working people in south dakota, and all over the country. They were native americans, they were poor people, hungry people, people others often overlooked. And then it was just as remarkable, in 1962, south dakota sent him to washington as the first democrat elected to the senate in 26 years. If George Mcgovern had never entered politics, he might still have impacted thousands of people like me. Most likely as a distinguished history professor, but i doubt that i would ever been elected to congress. Growing up in south dakota, the idea of getting elected as a democrat seemed as likely as martians landing in your yard. It just did not happen. [laughter] but because of what george had done, that changed. The fact that he won both his house and senate seat expanded the hopes and aspirations of hundreds of wouldbe democratic candidates, just like me. But even more was what he did those seats that affected us the most deeply, what he did. In 1972, i was a Intelligence Officer in the air force in omaha. My day job was analyzing Intelligence Data on the soviet union, but i had another volunteer job in the evening. Helping to run the mcgovern for president primary office in omaha. It was certainly an unusual combination, and i think i had the shortest hair cut of any one of around. [laughter] but what attracted me was not all that this man was from my state. What attracted me was his intellect. His integrity. His passion for the things in which he believed. And his courage to speak out. And his enormous decency. I like what someone wrote about him in his Mitchell Highschool yearbook. For a debater, he is a nice kid. [laughter] but for a politician, he would be extraordinary. I will remember my first lesson in Political Leadership from George Mcgovern. I have the opportunity to work in jims campaign and then go to washington. Then jim that we come back here in 1976 to get around and get to know people. It was 1977. I had not yet announced. It was at the state fair. The country was consumed in a raging debate about the panama canal treaties. As we were walking down the fairway, a very angry crowd encircled george, demanding that he explain his position on those treaties, and change it, threatening that they would work hard to defeat him in the next election if he did not. George stood there and listened, quietly. When it was his time to talk, in the most reason, calm, persuasive, particulate way, he shared with that group why those treaties were not only good for panama, but what they meant for us. The crowd dissipated. As we walked back to the democratic booth, i remarked that george, i said, george, i cannot but help, no the contrast between an angry crowd and what you just did. He said, i learned a long time ago, is a whole lot better to tell people what you believe from here, then to tell them what you think they want to hear. [applause] george said the standard for candor, conviction, and for honesty. For two years, from 1978 to 1980, i had the honor to serve in the same delegation with george from south dakota. Although he was the most senior and i, the most junior, he treated me as an equal. And i cannot begin to tell you the lessons i learned watching this man. Mostly by his example. Lessons that i only wish people in washington could better understand today. Like the fact that you can express your convictions deeply without ranting. You can disagree without being disagreeable. He showed me the cynics were wrong, that politics can be an honorable profession. But you make sacrifices in politics. Sometimes, big sacrifices. But you do not sacrifice your idealism or your conscience. People sometimes talk about mcgovernism. Some even use it as a pejorative. But mcgovernism means believing in basic american values. Democracy,