 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, accompanied by Mr. Harry Morgan. Good morning and please be seated. And welcome to the White House. Since Monday, we've been observing National Volunteer Week. And in the past few days, it's been my pleasure to meet different groups of volunteers. Yesterday, it was over 150 youngsters. It was enjoyable, but I have to admit, I've been looking forward to today. Now I get a chance to meet some kids of my own age. Allow me to begin with a story, and it's a true story. This past February in New Mexico, a school bus in the Navajo Red Start, or Head Start program, got stuck in the mud. Inside were the driver, Willie Castillo, a woman who often served as a volunteer, and 10 preschool children. As Willie tried to free the vehicle, he smelled smoke. And a moment later, he saw flames. Willie shouted that the children began to clear them from the bus. The volunteer remained calm and helped Willie, carrying to safety several of the smallest children, including one little girl who was sound asleep. As the flames spread, Willie returned to the bus to make a final check and found a three-year-old boy who couldn't unfasten his seatbelt. Willie freed the belt, scooped the boy up in his arms, threw him from the bus, then jumped clear himself. In an instant, the gas tank exploded, and the bus was engulfed by flames. Willie and the volunteer had saved the lives of 10 children. The volunteer had also proved that heroes need not be young. You see, she was Willie's grandmother. Her name is Mechie Castillo, and she happens to be 72 years old. Since my Navajo was a little rough, I'm sticking to English, and Mae is supposed to be listening to me through an interpreter. Willie and Mae Castillo, thank you both for being so brave. And Mae, thanks for showing that folks that our age still has plenty of spunk. But the volunteerism that Mae Castillo and each of you represents has deep roots in American history. Daniel Boerstein, the Librarian of Congress, discusses the topic in his book, The Americans, The National Experience. Groups moving westward, he writes, organized into communities in order to conquer the great distances to help one another. They dared not wait for government to establish its machinery. If the services that elsewhere were performed by governments were to be performed at all, it would have to be by private initiative. Helping out became an American habit. Americans helped to rebuild a neighbor's barn when it burned down and then formed a volunteer fire department so it wouldn't burn down again. I have to interject here. One of my favorite stories, back in an earlier day when we began, all of us who came or our ancestors from someplace else, revisiting the motherlands of all of us, there was an elderly couple visiting in Italy. And they were looking at that great volcano there. And the guide was telling them of the terrible power that it had and the great heat that it generated and everything else. And the old boy said to his wife, hell, we got a volunteer fire department at home, put that thing out in 15 minutes. But in that early day, those people harvested the next fellow's crops when he was ill. They raised school funds at quilting bees and church socials. After earthquakes and floods, we took it for granted that our neighbors would be there. At the end of World War II, however, our volunteer efforts began to wane. Government was growing, and step by step, it took over tasks that used to be performed by towns, churches, and synagogues, neighbors, and families. Why should I get involved, people asked, let the government handle it? Well, this growth of government began to undermine our sense of self-reliance and erode our individual rights. No one understood this better than President John F. Kennedy. Only by doing the work ourselves, he reminded us, can we hope to maintain the authority of the people over the state to ensure that the people remain the master and the state, the servant. Every time we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, he said, and shift it to the government, to that same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of the people. Well, one of the chief aims of our administration has been to re-emphasize the vital contributions which individuals, families, and private organizations make to our community to life. As we've done so, we've begun to see a rebirth of the volunteer spirit. Today, thousands of new private sector initiatives are making life better for millions. According to a Gallup poll, the number of Americans who volunteer their time has reached 92 million. Well over half our adult population has volunteer efforts multiply. Older Americans are paying a central role. Perhaps the most significant volunteer work by older Americans is that represented by the group to which each of you belongs, the retired senior volunteer program RSVP. Founded in 1969, RSVP today has more than 700 projects coordinating the volunteer efforts of some 350,000 older Americans. RSVP projects are community planned, controlled, and supported, and the RSVP program itself generates more than $7 worth of services for every federal dollar that is spent. Let me tell you about a few of the RSVP members with us today, people who demonstrate the kind of volunteer work that our senior citizens are providing across the country. Chester Turner, 77, lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Chester is deaf, but that doesn't stop him not by a long shot. Each week, Chester visits the residence of a nursing home and those of a home for mentally retarded and handicapped children. In his own home, a senior citizen high-rise, Chester acts as a handyman. Chester Turner, for making such a different in the lives of so many, I thank you. In Jamestown, New York, Dorothy Brooks is a professional pianist. Once a week, Dorothy puts on a vaudeville show at a nursing home, a psychiatric center for the local VA hospital, where she has been volunteering for 41 years. Dorothy happens to be 82, and that makes her one of the few people around who can call me Sunny. Dorothy Brooks, thank you. And may you keep your show on the road for many years to come. Fred Donano, 74, lives in Deerfield Beach, Florida and volunteers nearly full time as a counselor at the Fort Lauderdale Vietnam Veterans Hospital. Fred has a particular bond with veterans of the war in Vietnam. His son was killed there. With immense courage, Fred has transformed his grief into gifts of kindness and understanding. Helping Vietnam veterans come to grips with their lives a decade after the war itself came to an end. Fred, no president can pay you higher honor than to simply say, your son would have been proud of you. One member of RSVP has a national reputation. His name is Harry Morgan, and he's in his 70s. And Harry has been acting for decades on stage, screen and television. Harry, you've been well known to all of us over the years, first in December Bride and then in Pete and Gladys and Dragnet. But it's for your mash performance as Colonel Potter, irascible, lovable Colonel Potter, for which I suspect you will be best remembered. Hey, and Harry, you volunteered for the John Mecham Microsurgery Institute, served as a spokesman for the National Arthritis Foundation, and used your mash role to draw attention to veterans needs, making public service announcements and speaking at benefits and charities. Recently, you were named Honorary Chairman of RSVP, a new and challenging role. And Harry, I want to present you with a certificate of appreciation for accepting the honorary chairmanship and offer you my personal congratulations. Thank you, Mr. President. Well, I've changed places. All right. I'll just put that down there and hope it doesn't break. Thank you, Mr. President. That's a very great honor. And I'm going to do my best to live up to it. Now, I'm going to spring a little teaser on you. Probably not used to these. I've been in the Oval Office many, many more times than just this morning. And I once lived in the White House for four days in the presidential quarters. Well, before I get arrested, I better tell you that NBC did a sort of a Maxi series called Backstairs at the White House. And I played President Truman. But you've got a better set than we had. And we didn't have a Rose Garden. But then they never promised us a Rose Garden. If I could just take a few minutes to establish my credentials as a senior citizen by way of, I think, kind of a cute story. Years ago, and not so many years ago, when Prince Charles was visiting America, of course, eventually he came to Hollywood. And they had a big luncheon forum in the commissary of 20th Century Fox. Well, practically every star in Hollywood was there, including Henry Fonda, who was an old friend of mine going back to summer stock days. And we hadn't seen one other in a long time. So we had a lot to talk about. Well, in the commissary, the people were seated at a U-shaped table. And Fonda and I were down like here. And Shirley Fonda was seated next to Charlton Heston some distance away. And she saw Fonda and me talking animatedly. And she said to Heston, Harry was in Henry's first picture. And Heston said to Shirley, Harry was in everybody's first picture. Which wasn't really true. You know, President Reagan, you and I did a picture together. 34 years ago, in 1954, the president and I were in a picture called Prisoner of War, which was about some American soldiers who had been captured by the North Koreans and put in a prison camp. It wasn't the president's first picture, and it wasn't my first picture. It could have been our last. It wasn't, but even if it had been, it wouldn't have mattered because at least one of us would have found something else to do. Just to finish this up, maybe on a little more serious note, which is what this is all about after all, I was in MASH for eight years. And I think that's probably the reason that I'm standing here. I've often said that being in MASH made me a better actor, but that's not very important. But something else it did, it made me a better human being. And I think maybe a little of Colonel Potter rubbed off on me. Thank you. I have one very delightful task to perform. Mrs. Castile and her grandson, a big-apart, and Willie, have a little presentation to make to the president. I guess I'm going the right way. from the birth, before it burst into flames. I risk my life to save these children because the children are the future of the Navajo Nation. I have traveled a great distance to be with you today. I see these children as my own children, and I want the best educational opportunities for them. Likewise, as an elderly, I see the many unmet needs of other Native American elderly who do not have the basic necessities of life. So as food, housing, electricity, water, and health care, I plead with you to recognize the needs of Native American children and elderly. Among the many needs, we have our educational facilities for hospitals, senior citizen services, and policies for the aged. We need to continue the current levels of economic benefits, such as social security, since many Native American elderly depend on this support for their only source of income, because in the end of the century, there is no private sector. I ask for your support and understanding, Mr. President. We have no roads. The roads where I live are not paved. In your position, please help us. In appreciation for your recognition of my grandson, my tribe, and I, I am honored to present this robe to you to show my respect and heartfelt thanks. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure. I think I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And Mrs. Castillo, I would like to say that I think most of those things that you were talking about here and those problems come under what we have called the safety net, and which we intend to continue. And even with regard to our battles to lower the deficit, these things will not be done away with or reduced. I thank you, and I'm very proud to have this Navajo blanket. And to each of you out there, your heroes of selflessness making America better and warmer by allowing others to benefit from the wisdom of your lifetimes. So on behalf of all Americans, thank you, and God bless you. Oh, wow. Thank you. Thank you very much. And really, thank you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Well, pleased to meet you. All right. Thank you all. Mr. President, do you want some Martians in exchange for the Nicholson Trigling? No questions, Mr. President. Thank you.