John McCain

thank you __PUNCT__

i am veri happi to be here __PUNCT__

annapoli hold a special place in my life __PUNCT__ and in the year that have pass sinc my father drove me to the gate of the naval_academi to begin my plebe year __PUNCT__ memori of my experi here ar often bath in the welcom haze of nostalgia for the time when i wa brave and true and better look than i am at present __PUNCT__

but wit to my behavior here __PUNCT__ a few of whom ar present todai __PUNCT__ as well as a nag conscienc __PUNCT__ have a tendenc to interrupt my reveri for a misspent youth __PUNCT__ and urg a more honest apprais of my record and charact here __PUNCT__

in truth __PUNCT__ my four year at the naval academi were not notabl for exemplari virtu or academ_achiev but __PUNCT__ rather __PUNCT__ for the impress catalogu of demerit i manag to accumul __PUNCT__

by my reckon __PUNCT__ at the end of my second class year __PUNCT__ i had march enough extra duti to take me to baltimor and back seventeen time __PUNCT__ which __PUNCT__ if not a record __PUNCT__ certainli rank somewher veri near the top __PUNCT__

never in my wildest flight of youth fanci did i imagin i would on dai be honor to give the commenc address at the academi as i wa some year_ago __PUNCT__

and __PUNCT__ certainli __PUNCT__ no matter how inflat wa my self __PUNCT__ regard as a midshipman __PUNCT__ it could never have admit the prospect that i would somedai return to the bank of the severn as a candid for presid of the unit_state __PUNCT__

my old compani offic __PUNCT__ who for four year devot himself to track my nocturn sojourn outsid the wall of the academi and my other petti act of insubordin __PUNCT__ would have certainli share my skeptic __PUNCT__

but in the interven_year and experi __PUNCT__ i have learn what a young_man seldom appreci __PUNCT__ that life is rich with ironi and unexpect twist of fate __PUNCT__ and is all the more fascin for them __PUNCT__

and i learn thi __PUNCT__ too __PUNCT__ that my accomplish ar more a testament to my countri __PUNCT__ the land of opportun __PUNCT__ than thei ar to me __PUNCT__

in america __PUNCT__ everyth is possibl __PUNCT__

i had a difficult_time my plebe year adjust to the disciplin impos on me __PUNCT__ which includ __PUNCT__ of cours __PUNCT__ defer to offic and instructor __PUNCT__ but to other midshipmen __PUNCT__ whose onli accomplish entitl them to my obedi __PUNCT__ i thought at the time __PUNCT__ wa to have been born a year or more befor me __PUNCT__

i wa someth of a disciplin problem to begin with __PUNCT__

the problem be __PUNCT__ i didn't like disciplin __PUNCT__

and that childish impuls that seem then so import to my self __PUNCT__ respect __PUNCT__ to protect the individu i had been at pain to assert throughout my itiner childhood __PUNCT__ encourag my irrever to some of the custom of thi place __PUNCT__

it funni __PUNCT__ now __PUNCT__ how less self __PUNCT__ assur i feel later in life than i did when i live in the perpetu springtim of youth __PUNCT__

some of my critic alleg that ag hasn't entir cost me my earlier conceit __PUNCT__

all i can sai to them is thei should have known me then __PUNCT__

but as the great_poet __PUNCT__ yeat __PUNCT__ wrote __PUNCT__ all that beauti drift awai __PUNCT__ like the water __PUNCT__

i lost some of the attribut that were the object of a young_man vaniti __PUNCT__

but there have been compens __PUNCT__ which i have come to hold dear __PUNCT__

if i had ignor some of the less import convent of the academi __PUNCT__ i wa care not to defam it more compel tradit __PUNCT__ the vener of courag and resili __PUNCT__ the honor code that simpli assum your fidel to it principl __PUNCT__ the homag paid to american who had sacrif greatli for our countri __PUNCT__ the expect that you __PUNCT__ too __PUNCT__ would prove worthi of your countri trust __PUNCT__

appear to the contrari __PUNCT__ it wa never my intent to mock a rever cultur that expect better of me __PUNCT__

like ani other midshipman __PUNCT__ i want to prove my mettl to my contemporari and to the institut that figur so promin in my famili_histori __PUNCT__

my idiosyncrat method amount to littl more than the continu express of the trucul i had us at other school to fend off what i had wrongli identifi as attack on my digniti __PUNCT__

the naval_academi wa not interest in degrad my digniti __PUNCT__

on the contrari __PUNCT__ it had a more expans concept of human_digniti than i possess when i arriv at it gate __PUNCT__

the most import_lesson i learn here wa that to sustain my self __PUNCT__ respect for a lifetim it would be necessari for me to have the honor of serv someth greater than my self __PUNCT__ interest __PUNCT__

when i left the academi __PUNCT__ i wa not even awar i had learn that lesson __PUNCT__

in a later crisi __PUNCT__ i would suffer a genuin attack on my digniti __PUNCT__ an attack __PUNCT__ unlik the affront i had exagger as a boi __PUNCT__ that left me desper and uncertain __PUNCT__

it wa then i would recal __PUNCT__ awaken by the exampl of men who share my circumst __PUNCT__ the lesson that the academi in it vener and endur wai had labor to impress upon me __PUNCT__

it chang my life forev __PUNCT__

i had found my caus __PUNCT__ citizenship in the greatest nation on earth __PUNCT__

like most peopl __PUNCT__ when i reflect back on the adventur and joi of youth __PUNCT__ i feel a long for what is lost and cannot be restor __PUNCT__

but though such happi pursuit prove ephemer __PUNCT__ someth better can endur __PUNCT__ and endur until our last moment on earth __PUNCT__

and that is the honor you earn and the love you give when you sacrific with other for a caus greater than yourself __PUNCT__

our civil progress is acceler by the inform __PUNCT__ technolog revolut that rank with the industri_revolut as a great pivot point in histori __PUNCT__

all around the world __PUNCT__ the dynam of the new economi __PUNCT__ the internet __PUNCT__ the commun revolut and global ar transform the wai we work and creat valu __PUNCT__ the wai we govern ourselv __PUNCT__ or other presum to govern us __PUNCT__ the wai we live __PUNCT__

but even as we stand todai __PUNCT__ at the threshold of an ag in which the geniu of america will __PUNCT__ i am confid __PUNCT__ again be proven __PUNCT__ the geniu that historian frederick turner call __PUNCT__ that restless __PUNCT__ nervou energi __PUNCT__ that domin individu __PUNCT__ that buoyanc and exuber which come with freedom __PUNCT__ mani american ar indiffer to or cynic about the virtu that our countri claim __PUNCT__

in part __PUNCT__ it is attribut to the disloc econom chang caus __PUNCT__ to the experi of american who have __PUNCT__ through no fault of their own __PUNCT__ been left behind as other profit as thei never have befor __PUNCT__

in part __PUNCT__ it is in reaction to govern mistak and incompet __PUNCT__ and to the selfish of some public_figur who seek to shine the luster of their public reput at the expens of the public_good __PUNCT__

but for other __PUNCT__ cynic about our countri __PUNCT__ govern __PUNCT__ social and religi_institut seem not a reaction to occas when thei have been let down by these institut __PUNCT__ but becaus the eas which wealth and opportun have given their live led them to the mistaken conclus that america __PUNCT__ and the liberti it system of govern is intend to protect __PUNCT__ just aren't import to the qualiti of their live __PUNCT__

i a conserv __PUNCT__ and i believ it is a veri healthi thing for american to be skeptic about the purpos and practic of public_offici __PUNCT__

we shouldn't expect too much from govern __PUNCT__ nor should it expect too much from us __PUNCT__

self __PUNCT__ relianc __PUNCT__ not foist our respons off on other __PUNCT__ is the ethic that made america_great __PUNCT__

but when healthi skeptic sour into corros cynic our expect of our govern becom reduc to the deliveri of servic __PUNCT__

and to some peopl the expect of liberti ar reduc to the right to choos among compet brand of design coffe __PUNCT__

what is lost is __PUNCT__ in a word __PUNCT__ citizenship __PUNCT__

for too mani american __PUNCT__ the idea of good citizenship doe not extend beyond walk into a vote_booth everi two or four year and pull a lever __PUNCT__

and too few american demand of themselv even that first oblig of self __PUNCT__ govern __PUNCT__

but citizenship properli_understood is what ronald_reagan wa talk about when he said that american __PUNCT__ ar a nation that ha a govern __PUNCT__ not the other wai around __PUNCT__

citizenship is not just the imposit of the mundan duti of democraci __PUNCT__

nor is it the unqualifi entitl to the protect and servic of the state __PUNCT__

citizenship thrive in the commun space where govern is absent __PUNCT__

anywher american come togeth to govern their live and their commun __PUNCT__ in famili __PUNCT__ church __PUNCT__ synagogu __PUNCT__ museum __PUNCT__ symphoni __PUNCT__ the littl leagu __PUNCT__ the boi_scout __PUNCT__ the girl scout __PUNCT__ the salvat_armi or the vfw __PUNCT__ thei ar exercis their citizenship __PUNCT__

citizenship is defin by countless act of love __PUNCT__ kind and courag that have no wit or heraldri and ar especi commend becaus thei ar unrecord __PUNCT__

although it exist apart from govern __PUNCT__ citizenship is the habit and institut that preserv democraci __PUNCT__

it is the wai __PUNCT__ small and larg __PUNCT__ we come togeth to govern ourselv __PUNCT__

citizenship is the respons exercis of freedom __PUNCT__ and is indispens to the proper function of a democraci __PUNCT__

the english writer g.k __PUNCT__

chesterton onc wrote that america is a __PUNCT__ nation with the soul of a church __PUNCT__

what he meant is that america is not a race or a peopl but an idea __PUNCT__ a place where the onli requir for membership is a belief in the principl of liberti __PUNCT__ opportun and equal under the law on which thi nation wa found __PUNCT__

citizenship is our accept of __PUNCT__ and our protect of __PUNCT__ these principl __PUNCT__

it is the duti __PUNCT__ the loyalti __PUNCT__ the inspir and the habit of mind that bind us togeth as american __PUNCT__

we ar the heir and caretak of freedom __PUNCT__ a bless preserv with the blood of hero down through the ag __PUNCT__

on cannot go to arlington cemeteri and see name upon name __PUNCT__ grave upon grave __PUNCT__ row upon row __PUNCT__ without be deepli move by the sacrific made by those young_men and women __PUNCT__

and those of us who live in thi time __PUNCT__ who ar the beneficiari of their sacrific __PUNCT__ dare not forget what thei did and why thei did it __PUNCT__ lest we lose our own love of liberti __PUNCT__

love of countri __PUNCT__ my friend __PUNCT__ is anoth wai of sai love of your fellow_countrymen __PUNCT__ a truth i learn a long_time time_ago in a countri veri differ from our __PUNCT__

that is the good caus that summon everi american to servic __PUNCT__

if you find fault with our countri __PUNCT__ make it a better on __PUNCT__

if you ar disappoint with the mistak of govern __PUNCT__ join it rank and work to correct them __PUNCT__

i hope more american would consid enlist in our arm_forc __PUNCT__

i hope more would consid run for public_offic or work in feder __PUNCT__ state and local_govern __PUNCT__

but there ar mani public caus where your servic can make our countri a stronger __PUNCT__ better on than we inherit __PUNCT__

wherev there is a hungri child __PUNCT__ a great caus exist __PUNCT__

where there is an illiter adult __PUNCT__ a great caus exist __PUNCT__

wherev there ar peopl who ar deni the basic right of man __PUNCT__ a great caus exist __PUNCT__

wherev there is suffer __PUNCT__ a great caus exist __PUNCT__

the good citizen and wise person pursu_happi that is greater than comfort __PUNCT__ more sublim than pleasur __PUNCT__

the cynic and indiffer know not what thei miss __PUNCT__

for their mistak is an impedi not onli to our progress as a civil but to their happi as individu __PUNCT__

as bless as we ar __PUNCT__ no nation complac in it great can long sustain it __PUNCT__

we __PUNCT__ too __PUNCT__ must prove __PUNCT__ as those who came befor us prove __PUNCT__ that a peopl free to act in their own interest __PUNCT__ will perceiv those interest in an enlighten wai __PUNCT__ will live as on nation __PUNCT__ in a kinship of ideal __PUNCT__ and make of our power and wealth a civil for the ag __PUNCT__ a civil in which all peopl share in the promis and respons of freedom __PUNCT__

should we claim our right and leav to other the duti to the ideal that protect them __PUNCT__ whatev we gain for ourselv will be of littl last valu __PUNCT__

it will build no monument to virtu __PUNCT__ claim no honor place in the memori of poster __PUNCT__ offer no worthi summon to the world __PUNCT__

success __PUNCT__ wealth and celebr gain and kept for privat_interest is a small_thing __PUNCT__

it make us comfort __PUNCT__ eas the materi hardship our children will bear __PUNCT__ purchas a fleet regard for our live __PUNCT__ yet not the self __PUNCT__ respect that __PUNCT__ in the end __PUNCT__ matter most __PUNCT__

but sacrific for a caus greater than yourself __PUNCT__ and you invest your life with the emin of that caus __PUNCT__ your self __PUNCT__ respect assur __PUNCT__

all live ar a struggl against selfish __PUNCT__

all my life i stood a littl apart from institut that i had willingli join __PUNCT__

it just felt natur to me __PUNCT__

but if my life had share no common_purpos __PUNCT__ it would not have amount to much more than eccentr __PUNCT__

there is no honor or happi in just be strong enough to be left alon __PUNCT__

as on of my potenti oppon often observ __PUNCT__ i spent fifti_year in the servic of thi countri and it ideal __PUNCT__

i have made mani mistak __PUNCT__ and i have my share of regret __PUNCT__

but i never live a dai __PUNCT__ in good_time or bad __PUNCT__ that i wasn't grate for the privileg __PUNCT__

that the benefit of servic to a countri that is an idea and a caus __PUNCT__ a righteou idea and caus __PUNCT__

america and her ideal help spare me the worst consequ of the defici in my charact __PUNCT__

and i cannot forget it __PUNCT__

when i wa a young_man __PUNCT__ i thought glori wa the highest attain __PUNCT__ and all glori wa self __PUNCT__ glori __PUNCT__

my parent had tri to teach me otherwis __PUNCT__ as did the naval_academi __PUNCT__

but i didn't understand the lesson until later in life __PUNCT__ when i confront challeng i never expect to face __PUNCT__

in that confront __PUNCT__ i discov that i wa depend on other to a greater extent than i had ever realiz __PUNCT__ but neither thei nor the caus we serv made ani claim on my ident __PUNCT__

on the contrari __PUNCT__ thei gave me a larger sens of myself than i had ever had befor __PUNCT__

and i am a better man for it __PUNCT__

i discov that noth in life is more liber than to fight for a caus that encompass you but is not defin by your exist alon __PUNCT__

and that ha made all the differ __PUNCT__ my friend __PUNCT__ all the differ in the world __PUNCT__

thank you __PUNCT__