Claus, we are all in your debt. I sat thinking, Scott, that maybe this is the best religious service in the United States today. I'm fascinated by the program and the comments here. I think you made some wise choices. One of the messages here today is, listen at long-last, listen to our native people, they have some wisdom, this is very valuable.

The other lesson: my generation, the elders have been far too seduced by the idea that history is made by great men. If I had time I'd bring Winston Churchill down several notches, a war-lover, but let's not go into that! The message here today, for the people who have been honored, is that ordinary people, who are not so ordinary - as we found out! - are the ones who quietly can move history in the right direction.

After the Cold War ended (except in this country there are a lot of people that don't want it to end - our military budget's going up, my friend), when the Cold War ended, I said to myself what an extraordinary thing. I always thought it would end with some kind of horrible nuclear exchange. I thought that there would have be a blood-bath in South Africa. And that didn't happen. And as an old man looking back over a century - I witnessed nearly eighty years of this century - and it's time for us to think not about stupid Y2K or whether some secrets have been lost up here. I heard a great scientist say a while back, in the kind of world we live in today the half life of any technical or scientific secret is measured in months. Think of that!

But we have seen in this century extraordinary scientific and technical developments beginning with radio and aircraft, and on to now, some people today think the greatest discoveries and inventions are television, computers and the Internet. Walter Cronkite thinks five-hundred years from now they'll remember us for the space program. I better not tell my version of that...

And as an old man I have the feeling, maybe in the last few years or couple of decades, that we are seeing something emerging that might offer hope. And what I see is leaders who reject military solutions and violence - that is certainly a hope in a world, that is today too militarized, too concentrated on winning wars.

Written large the history of this century is a tragic history. Two wars incredibly destructive, particularly the last one. I was a soldier, I saw and participated in some of it. The loss of lives of innocent people, incredible. When I see here today, a presentation of an idea, that ordinary people speaking up, fighting, educating can maybe move, not just this country, the international aspect of the Awards today is just plain wonderful...

So, I'm flattered and feel undeserving, but I'm glad to participate with all of you today and go forth with a message: individuals count! They can make history. Thank you.