May 15, 2020 • 7 mins
In this episode of Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020, veteran journalist and news anchor Tom Brokaw offers words of wisdom and inspiration to the graudation class, encouraging them to embrace their places on the front lines as beacons of humanity's endless possibilities.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Commencement Speeches for the Class of twenty is a production
of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, Faculty, rising graduates,
Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year is a
(00:22):
little different, a difficult time to graduate because the traditional
graduation day has been put on hold. So we're bringing
it to you wherever you are, because this is still
your day, your moment. And now put your hands together.
It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the
one and only Tom broke Off. I have never addressed
(00:54):
a graduating class and quite your circumstances by remote control
with the graduates, I hope six ft apart and wearing
fatiful mask. You're part of what could be the next
greatest generation. In these dark days, it all looks frightening
and uncertain with good reason, but what more could you want?
(01:15):
In many ways, it is a chance to help save
the world and create a society that arose to meet
a virus aim like a dagger at all we hold
dear last fall, you began your final year in a
booming economy. You're the masters of the wonders, of the
limitless powers of cyber technology. Opportunity beckoned well for most
(01:39):
of you. A lot of you had greater college death
than you would like, but there would probably be a
way out and then bang out of China. The greatest
biological threat of our lifetime COVID nineteen. It's a deadly
virus running amok. You went from getting fitted for mortar
boards to face mask and applications for financial aid. You
(02:02):
all probably remember that nine eleven was a great test
for us as well. It's set off the longest war
in our nation's history, one that is still going on
in the Middle East and now in Africa as well.
So many people volunteered your age to fight in that war,
and they're now back, men and women, some of them
missing limbs, a lot of them in public service. It
(02:25):
took on personal meeting at our house because we lost
a golden friend, David Bloom, one of our very best correspondents,
died in the opening days. And then from my hometown
I heard about another friend, a volunteer fireman, who was
grievously wounded and he has not fully recovered from all
of that. At the time, he was living in a
(02:45):
house that my parents built, but it was too small
for his family. So we all raised some money got
him a larger house, and now he and his wife
are taking on life every day, and all he asked
is being able to walk down the aisle on one
of his voters is married. So these are the examples
that have occurred in our lifetime. And now, as the
(03:07):
masters of cyber technology, the greatest technology ever made available
to everyone, you have an opportunity to define your future.
There's no question about it. This is a god awful
threat and it's a long way from being over, despite
all the assurances that we have from the White House
podium COVID nineteen. Sweeping across all kinds of populations, the
(03:32):
economy and jobs created, death was everywhere. You must have wondered,
why me, Well, because life is not a lottery in
which everyone gets a winning ticket. There are other unwelcome
and threatening developments, man made and natural, and more of
them will occur in your lifetime. Eighty years ago America
(03:53):
joined the greatest war in the history of the world,
World War Two. A mad German set out to conquer
the world and destroy the Jewish race and all that
stood in his way, and equally mad Japanese warlord had
the same goal. It was a global struggle for the
preservation of civilization. Fifty million combatants and civilians, maybe more.
(04:18):
The nuclear age was introduced Russia one from being an
ally to being an enemy all across American men and women,
your age stepped up, and in a short time they
created the greatest military force ever. They went from being
bellhops to bomber pilots in a matter of months. Ivy
League graduates were fighting alongside inner city dropouts. They came
(04:40):
from the inner cities, the western ranches, the Great Plains,
the coastal seats, and before it was over, the world
was exhausted and wounded, but determined to make a comeback.
The arsenal of democracy prevailed. Warriors men and women came
home to build the greatest economy ever, to escape the
bonds of earth and go d into space, to finally
(05:02):
and bravely take on the shame of racial division in
our country, to remain a beacon of humanities, endless possibilities.
Your challenge is equal, if not greater. This enemy is
an invisible microbe, and it is here, not in a
foreign country, and it's not going to go away swiftly.
(05:23):
It's a deadly virus that is ruthless and immune to
social standing, financial worth, political power. It cannot be allowed
to divide us. It must be the enemy that unite
this nation of unparalleled strength, resources and intellectual capacity, and
a common determination to defeat it and to prevail for mankind.
(05:45):
You're likely face no greater challenge in your lifetime. May
you be able to say, we met a threat to
all mankind on the biological battleground, and we prevailed. We
are proud but also old by the force of nature,
and we say the successive generations, this will be your
(06:05):
duty to carry on, for nature is dark side will
always be with us. I know you're up to the challenge.
I wish you God's feed and undending success and preserving
the human kind. I know that a lot of you
will be drawn to biological enterprise, because this experience is
(06:26):
changing us all and making us aware of how we
have to turn in new directions. But America, the greatest
nation in the history of the world. America will stand
tall at the end of all of this, wounded but
learning from its wounds. And I know that all of
you will be in the front lines, and so I
wish you the very best congratulations. I could not be
(06:49):
more proud to be a fellow citizen m You can
find a colection of incredible Commencement addresses from all your
favorite speakers at the Commencement Podcast on I Heart Radio
or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Commencement Speeches for the Class of twenty is a production
of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, Faculty, rising graduates,
Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year is a
(00:22):
little different, a difficult time to graduate because the traditional
graduation day has been put on hold. So we're bringing
it to you wherever you are, because this is still
your day, your moment. And now put your hands together.
It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the
one and only Tom broke Off. I have never addressed
(00:54):
a graduating class and quite your circumstances by remote control
with the graduates, I hope six ft apart and wearing
fatiful mask. You're part of what could be the next
greatest generation. In these dark days, it all looks frightening
and uncertain with good reason, but what more could you want?
(01:15):
In many ways, it is a chance to help save
the world and create a society that arose to meet
a virus aim like a dagger at all we hold
dear last fall, you began your final year in a
booming economy. You're the masters of the wonders, of the
limitless powers of cyber technology. Opportunity beckoned well for most
(01:39):
of you. A lot of you had greater college death
than you would like, but there would probably be a
way out and then bang out of China. The greatest
biological threat of our lifetime COVID nineteen. It's a deadly
virus running amok. You went from getting fitted for mortar
boards to face mask and applications for financial aid. You
(02:02):
all probably remember that nine eleven was a great test
for us as well. It's set off the longest war
in our nation's history, one that is still going on
in the Middle East and now in Africa as well.
So many people volunteered your age to fight in that war,
and they're now back, men and women, some of them
missing limbs, a lot of them in public service. It
(02:25):
took on personal meeting at our house because we lost
a golden friend, David Bloom, one of our very best correspondents,
died in the opening days. And then from my hometown
I heard about another friend, a volunteer fireman, who was
grievously wounded and he has not fully recovered from all
of that. At the time, he was living in a
(02:45):
house that my parents built, but it was too small
for his family. So we all raised some money got
him a larger house, and now he and his wife
are taking on life every day, and all he asked
is being able to walk down the aisle on one
of his voters is married. So these are the examples
that have occurred in our lifetime. And now, as the
(03:07):
masters of cyber technology, the greatest technology ever made available
to everyone, you have an opportunity to define your future.
There's no question about it. This is a god awful
threat and it's a long way from being over, despite
all the assurances that we have from the White House
podium COVID nineteen. Sweeping across all kinds of populations, the
(03:32):
economy and jobs created, death was everywhere. You must have wondered,
why me, Well, because life is not a lottery in
which everyone gets a winning ticket. There are other unwelcome
and threatening developments, man made and natural, and more of
them will occur in your lifetime. Eighty years ago America
(03:53):
joined the greatest war in the history of the world,
World War Two. A mad German set out to conquer
the world and destroy the Jewish race and all that
stood in his way, and equally mad Japanese warlord had
the same goal. It was a global struggle for the
preservation of civilization. Fifty million combatants and civilians, maybe more.
(04:18):
The nuclear age was introduced Russia one from being an
ally to being an enemy all across American men and women,
your age stepped up, and in a short time they
created the greatest military force ever. They went from being
bellhops to bomber pilots in a matter of months. Ivy
League graduates were fighting alongside inner city dropouts. They came
(04:40):
from the inner cities, the western ranches, the Great Plains,
the coastal seats, and before it was over, the world
was exhausted and wounded, but determined to make a comeback.
The arsenal of democracy prevailed. Warriors men and women came
home to build the greatest economy ever, to escape the
bonds of earth and go d into space, to finally
(05:02):
and bravely take on the shame of racial division in
our country, to remain a beacon of humanities, endless possibilities.
Your challenge is equal, if not greater. This enemy is
an invisible microbe, and it is here, not in a
foreign country, and it's not going to go away swiftly.
(05:23):
It's a deadly virus that is ruthless and immune to
social standing, financial worth, political power. It cannot be allowed
to divide us. It must be the enemy that unite
this nation of unparalleled strength, resources and intellectual capacity, and
a common determination to defeat it and to prevail for mankind.
(05:45):
You're likely face no greater challenge in your lifetime. May
you be able to say, we met a threat to
all mankind on the biological battleground, and we prevailed. We
are proud but also old by the force of nature,
and we say the successive generations, this will be your
(06:05):
duty to carry on, for nature is dark side will
always be with us. I know you're up to the challenge.
I wish you God's feed and undending success and preserving
the human kind. I know that a lot of you
will be drawn to biological enterprise, because this experience is
(06:26):
changing us all and making us aware of how we
have to turn in new directions. But America, the greatest
nation in the history of the world. America will stand
tall at the end of all of this, wounded but
learning from its wounds. And I know that all of
you will be in the front lines, and so I
wish you the very best congratulations. I could not be
(06:49):
more proud to be a fellow citizen m You can
find a colection of incredible Commencement addresses from all your
favorite speakers at the Commencement Podcast on I Heart Radio
or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!