Friday, June 10, 2011

How a President treats his Armed Forces Personnel

US Coast Guard Academy Commencement:President's Address
Sir,
You may like to publish the following in the RMS blog.
I am currently in the USA and watched with interest the "Commencement" (Graduation) ceremony of the US Coast Guard Academy, located in Connecticut, attended by the US President Barak Obama on the NBC TV on May 18 and also read the report in the state newspaper "The Hartford Courant". Brought up in the Indian ethos, many things struck me as unusual and worth sharing with IESM community.
The President was very informal during the ceremony and while delivering the speech, made some humorous remarks. He shook hands with all the 220 odd cadets, some of whom even hugged him! (Indian VIPs would stay at least 100 feet clear of Indian Defence Academy cadets to preserve their dignity and status).
He said in his speech," The graduates would soon join a military and intelligence community that made sure "the terrorist leader who attacked us on 9/11 will never threaten America again... We remember our moral compass that we are citizens with obligations to each other... that we rise and fall as one". (For Indian VIPs, only the servicemen have to have moral compass and obligations and none for the others).
Obama continued a presidential tradition when he jokingly absolved the cadets of any outstanding "minor" infractions. He also gave special acknowledgments to graduate Jennifer Proctor, who attended Obama's old high school in Honolulu, and Melissa McCafferty, the recipient of the academy's third Truman Scholarship, saying... "Where is Melissa, let me embarrass you" scanning the crowd.
I felt it is "Them and Us!".
Regards,
Shashank Bendre
Wg.Cdr.(Retd)

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