 The President of the United States and the Vice President of the United States. Please sit down. Well, thank you and welcome to the White House, the house that belongs to all of us. Today, we mark the 58th Annual Black History Month, a celebration of the part that black Americans have played in building our great country. The story of black Americans is one of valor in the face of hardship. The first blacks were brought to America against their will, kidnapped by the thousands from their homelands, and when they reached our country they encountered prejudice and servitude. Until only a few decades ago, black Americans lived lives that were separate and unequal. Most were taught in segregated schools. Too many could find only poor jobs toiling for low wages. Blacks were barred from hotels and restaurants and made to use separate facilities and even forced to drink at separate water fountains. In a nation that proclaimed liberty and justice for all, too many black Americans were living with neither. I remember some years ago, before we were freed from that kind of custom, a friend of mine telling me of having to tell his small son who couldn't understand why on a hot day he could not drink from the fountain and how his little son was crying and hearing that story, I made up my mind then that anything I could ever do to help in seeing that no parent in this country ever again would have to tell a child who denied something because of some difference in their complexion. And I think all of us are resolved and we've made marvelous strides in seeing that that isn't going to happen again in this land. In the 1920s, Carter G. Woodson, a great black educator, came to realize that if black Americans were to regain their dignity, they would have to begin by regaining their past. And he founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. And in 1926, he launched the first Black History Month. In the years since, the ASALH and annual Black History Months have enriched our country by fostering a sense of pride among black Americans and by teaching all of us about black contributions to American life. Just yesterday, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Carter G. Woodson stamp as part of their Black Heritage Series. We'll remember great black lawyers like Charles Hamilton Houston and William H. Hasty. We'll honor black physicians like Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, who performed the first open-heart surgery in the world in 1893. And physicians like Dr. Charles Drew, who discovered a method of storing plasma that enabled it to be used in emergencies. This month, we'll honor the black Americans who achieved so much in sports. The courageous Jackie Robinson, the great Hank Aaron. Here again, I interject a personal note. I was a sports announcer broadcasting Major League Baseball. And at that time, shamefully enough, I didn't have a Jackie Robinson or a Hank Aaron or a Willie Mays or any of the others to talk about. And there were some of us in the sports world at that time that editorialized and campaigned that that should be changed. And thank God it has been. We celebrate the black musicians who combined elements of African and western music to produce something completely new and distinctly American, jazz. And as we remember that Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and so many other black musicians began their careers playing in hotels where they were forbidden to take a room. We'll promise never to allow such injustice again. This black history month will remind Americans that again and again blacks have taken up arms to defend our country with their courage and in thousands of cases their lives. In the Revolutionary War, some 5,000 black Americans joined the fight for independence. The first American to die in that war was named Crispus Attics. He was black. In this century, thousands of black Americans fought in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. I tell you that this black history month bring back a personal memory. During World War II, I narrated a film about black pilots trained at Tuskegee Institute. I remember how impressed I was by the skill and bravery of those fliers. One of those brave men was Chape James, who went on to become a great aviator and the first black four-star general in the Air Force. And a few months ago in the Oval Office, I had the privilege, I should say months, moments ago, I had the privilege of presenting Tuskegee officials with a grant to help build the Chape James Center for Aerospace Science and Health Education on the Tuskegee Campus. It is a fitting monument to a true patriot, hero in two wars, fighter against discrimination, champion of equal opportunity, believer in personal responsibility. Chape wore four stars on his shoulder and 50 stars in my heart. This man who did fight discrimination and who had the bitter memories of that has still left words and written words about his love for this land, for this country that should inspire every American who can read those words. This month will remind us most of all of the great black struggle for equal rights. And just 13 weeks ago it was my privilege to sign into law a national holiday marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I have a dream, Dr. King said, that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. He spent his life combating bigotry so that his dream might come true and he gave his life to that noble cause. So this month let us rededicate ourselves to that great dream of brotherhood. The theme of Black History Month this year is black Americans and the struggle for excellence in education. Our country has come a long way since the days when men and women were jailed for teaching blacks to read. Today black Americans are in virtually every school and university in the country and they're breaking new ground in every field of endeavor. And black Americans like Astronauts Guy Bluford and Ronald McNair who's blasting off in the space shuttle tomorrow are teaching black children and all our children to really reach for the stars. Martin Luther King and others often said that black Americans must assert a sense of their own worth. Well this Black History Month will remind all of us that the story of black Americans adds up to just that a truly majestic sense of worth. I've got one more little story I just have to tell dates back to World War II or I'm sorry back to Vietnam in a warehouse there, a shipment of ammunition a captain with his platoon in there stacking this ammunition and the platoon was typical of our military they were black brown and white and suddenly a box of grenades was dropped rolling all over the floor and the captain ordered everyone out immediately and they fled and then they waited and no explosion, nothing had happened so the captain told them all to wait and he went back inside and then he gingerly picked up a grenade and with scotch tape tied down the pin so that it couldn't fire did it to a few more and then called the platoon inside and told them what he had done and showed them how to do it and to do this to stop what could have been a terrible disaster he had be paved in the highest tradition of an officer of our armed forces he did the dirty job that had to be done to make sure it could be done before he called his men in to do it and I will regret forever I know that story but I don't have his name the captain was black and as I say no officer has ever shown more faithfulness to the principles that should govern all officers in the military so again I thank all of you for being here God bless you all Mr. President, on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen I'm the immediate past national president and because of the words you said in that film those days they didn't think color could fly that you said the right words and we want you to keep saying those kind of words so more of our Americans will understand that we also can produce and demonstrate and this is on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen and women present to you this jacket, Tuskegee Airmen we have a few other mementos that we will pass on to your officer certificate making you an honorary member of the Tuskegee Airmen and women and a little lapel for you a pin for your lapel well thank you very much I am greatly honored and I must tell you and for more reasons than one you don't know what this can mean to a fellow that started his military career as a second lieutenant in the horse cavalry that's okay well thank you okay and thank you alright you're sure I'm going to get that alright this is a patch that is made for you specifically and I know that there is a rush on time but as the first national vice president of the Tuskegee Airmen I present this to you and wish you all the good speed and Godspeed in the world and thank you very much for the words you said thank you thank you very much thank you all very much oh right