They Will Be Remembered: A Memorial by Reagan’s Speechwriter

On this episode of Our American Stories, even before his time in the White House, Tony Dolan was a writer with a deep reverence for service and sacrifice. As Ronald Reagan’s chief speechwriter, he helped craft the words that defined an era. Here, in one of his most personal pieces, the late Dolan pays tribute to America’s fallen soldiers.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:21):
This is our American Stories. And this segment is a
tribute to soldiers who fall him. And this is a
tribute from Tony Dolan. And if you don't know Tony Dolan,
he was one of the youngest Pool Surprise winners in
American history for his investigation of official corruption and organized
crime in Connecticut in Hartford. He's a legend there to

(00:43):
this day. Death threats against him put a whole lot
of guys in prison. He was the chief speechwriter for
Ronald Reagan for eight years, responsible for some of the
greatest rhetoric of the twentieth century, most notably the Evil
Empire speech and the ash Heap of History speech. Tony's
tribute originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and he's

(01:03):
titled they will be remembered for all those who served,
and he graciously recorded for us. Let's take a listen.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I heard the thump as I was saying over the
phone to John Gibson at the National Security Council that
it couldn't be an accident since now a second plane
had hit the World Trade Center. Putting down the phone,
I walked over to the window and looked out on
One ten, which runs in front of the Pentagon. Construction workers,
their faces reflecting fear even terror, were running across this

(01:44):
major highway like it was a country road. They had
seen the smoke pouring out from around the corner where
Flight seventy seven had hit the building. John, I'll have
to call you back, I said, when I got back
to the phone. I think we just got hitped move
it to the right, said the soldier. When another soldier

(02:06):
bent over to adjust the pedal of his wheelchair. When
he saw who was helping him, a three star general,
he gulped A sorry, sir for not saying, sir, I'm
the one who should be calling you, sir, replied the
general as he wheeled the young veteran to the assembly
point for the other wounded. The soldiers were there for

(02:26):
the first of many tours of the Pentagon organized for
the wounded and their families. For many, this was their
first time outside the rooms and hallways of walder Reed
Hospital since their injuries, so they had trouble handling what
came next. As they came around a corner, the hallway
erupted with thousands of cheering, flag waving Department of Defense employees,

(02:49):
Many of those in the parade of crutches and wheelchairs,
including family members, were overcome as they moved along. Later,
one wife, sounding almost angry through her uncontrolled tears, told
the Pentagon organizer, you should have warned us, You should
have warned us, Sir? Could I ask you a question?

(03:15):
I knew what was coming. As the wounded toward the
press briefing room. It was always the same question for
the older guy in the suit, whom they thought might
have some authority, no matter how many limbs were missing
or how serious the head wound. They asked me, sir,
is there any way you could help me get back

(03:36):
to my unit? Guests of honor at a Washington think
tank dinner, the two enlisted men in wheelchairs and the
sergeant with a cane looked uneasy as they waited entirely
unnoticed at the edge of the huge, crowded ballroom. The
event planners were clipboards and bugs in their ear just

(03:59):
rushed by. When I saw them from a distance, I
maneuvered through the crowd and went up to them. They
looked up at me as I summon words that have
inspired our fighting forces down the years. Gentlemen, would you
like to follow me to the bar? Yes, sir, Thank you, sir,

(04:19):
was the enthusiastic response. The crowd parted magically on our
way to two beers in a gin. Later, the same
crowd ooed and odd when they heard of the soldier's
battlefield exploits. After the dinner, when the van arrived for
the trip back to Walter reed, I would see how
good they were at helping fold up their wheelchairs, put

(04:41):
them in the back, and then hop along towards their
seats with a hand against the side of the van,
all the while thanking me for the drinks. Hard to
hear and hard to watch. The hero is grateful hopper,
like the wife at the Pentagon Parade. My reaction was emotional,

(05:07):
and I thought somebody should have warned me. Yes, As
his name tag showed, the newly appointed Aid to Joint
Chief's Chairman, Peter Pace was the son of another well
known general. In answer to my questions, he added that
it was also a West Point graduate, and he listed
the several state side locations where he had been stationed.

(05:31):
With General Pace and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld just
ahead of us as we headed towards the press briefing room.
I thought that this young officer was going to have
trouble gaining the respect to fellow officers who had seen combat.
We turned the corner, though, and then he said, I
was in a rack too, Sir, and as I saw

(05:52):
his empty uniforms leave, he added, but I got hurt there.
People fled the funeral service for Navy Seal Jonas P.
Kelsal as the building shook reassurance during an earthquake, though
is a church full of Navy seals. The squadron commander

(06:15):
kept right on giving his eulogy, and Kelsole's comrades didn't
budge Victoria Jennings. Kelsole, her self, a former Marine with
a tour in Iraq, added to the intrepidity by speaking
nearly unfalteringly of her hero husband and his belief in

(06:36):
America's mission outside. Retired Colonel Oliver North, a Vietnam veteran,
said to former Marine Commandant P. X. Kelley, a Vietnam veteran,
Both of them friends of Victoria's father, Jerry Jennings, an
administration official and a Vietnam veteran. Aren't these kids amazing?

(07:00):
General Kelly readily agreed. It's the reason why, he explained
when he was recovering from an operation at Bethesda Naval Hospital,
he felt compelled to get himself moved off the deck
with the admirals and onto the casualties floor. The casualties

(07:20):
I think of them sometimes, those I knew, the wounded,
the ones who only wanted to get back to their
unit or left limbs on foreign soil, the ones whom
generals wanted to call sir or commandants, wanted the honor
of being on their hospital floor. I think too sometimes

(07:41):
the families that have fallen, the ones whose composure made
wounds not inadequate but impossible, And so I sometimes wonder
where they are and how life played out for them.
If I were to see them again, I know that
even if they asked, I would be reluctant to offer
any thoughts on their side sacrifice and its meaning, or

(08:02):
that of those they loved. But if they asked again,
if they pressed the question, I know I would answer,
and I know what I would tell them, that I
have lived a while and seen the verdicts of history
and know they are not always quickly rendered. But that
about them, the jury's finding is already in that what

(08:26):
they did was right and true, making others safe and
protecting the weak the innocent, giving others what they would
never have had, the gift of the future, the gift
of tomorrow. And I would say in doing all this,
they had made themselves a part, in fact, the best
part of history's great story, the American story. And so

(08:50):
I would tell them they will be remembered.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
And that was Tony Dolan. And for all of you
served have lost loved ones. We don't just do these things.
I Memorial Day here on our American Stories more after
these messages, liehbib here, and I'd like to encourage you

(09:21):
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(09:43):
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