President Massey, Dean Lawrence Carter, Distinguished Ambassador, The Honorable Franklin Sonin, Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia, The Justly Famous Congressman, John Lewis of Georgia, My Friend, Professor Bob Pastor and His Wife, Margy.
All New Peace Corps Volunteers and all Retired Peace Corps Volunteers,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Today I salute all, and every individual one, of the newest Peace Corps Volunteers, here in this famous chapel. We seek the blessing of God on every one of these volunteers destined for service to and for the citizens of the great nation of South Africa.
May all that you volunteers do and say during the months and years of your service to the people of South Africa be a blessing and help for them, and for your own growth in wisdom and justice.
Thirty-seven years ago we started the Peace Corps without knowing whether anybody in the world wanted it. President Kennedy gave us the inspiration! But we had no market research department, and no one to explain what the Peace Corps was all about, except ourselves. So we did it ourselves.
Six of us travelled to our potential customers — nations of Africa, Asia, South America and the Pacific. We made deals with them for future delivery of volunteers — persons whom none of us had ever seen!
The host countries gambled with us! Their leaders had the courage to trust what we said. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Pandit Nehru of India, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Ramon Macapagal of the Phillipines, Azikiew of Nigeria, Jomo Kenyata of Kenya, Lleras Camargo of Columbia, and Romulo Bentencourt of Venezuela — all were heroes of the first Peace Corps days...
But even the name of our organization, “The Peace Corps”, was bitterly contested. “Peace Corps” was not the most popular title. The most experienced advisors in government scoffed at that name. They wanted a solid bureaucratic title — like, “The Agency for Overseas Voluntary Service.” They did not want us to be an independent agency. They wanted us to be part, a small part, of a new entity: their Agency for International Development (A.I.D.)
Conservatives opposed the word “Peace”! They maintained it sounded wishy-washy, vague, and weak. The Communists, they said, had corrupted the word “Peace” by applying it to every political initiative, and even to every war they got involved in.
The left wing disliked the word “Corps”! They said it sounded militaristic. The famous “German Afriker Corps,” victorious almost everywhere in Northern Africa fighting against the British and French under the German general Rommel, was fresh in their minds. “Corps” sounded like the army.
Finally, I decided we’d use both words, put them together, and get the best out of both of them: Peace because that was truly our business — and Corps because it showed that we were not individualists, but a group!
I recommend now that we remember that beginning. We risked everything then in a leap of faith that the Peace Corps would succeed.
We risked everything that volunteers would respond.
We were dedicated to the pursuit of peace — we opposed the idea that war is inevitable.
We believed that, with God’s help, we could rid the world of war!
We were a Corps, a band of brothers and sisters, united in the conviction that, if we work hard enough to eradicate our fears and increase the reach of our love, we truly can avoid war — and achieve Peace within ourselves, within our nation and around the world.
And we all think that everyone in the Peace Corps now, and everyone who has ever worked in the Peace Corps, is a special person, who, given a chance, will overcome any problem!
Why do presidents from distant lands and island empires still ask our presidents for Peace Corps Volunteers?
Why can Peace Corps Volunteers live everywhere today, unprotected, unarmed, defense-less, free and open, and yet practically never be assaulted or terrorized?
Why are Peace Corps Volunteers still the “wanted Americans,” not the “ugly Americans?”
I believe we are popular because Peace Corps Volunteers represent the promise, not the power, of America.
The leaders of early America were lionized throughout the world not for their strength in military or economic matters, but for their moral vision of a society ruled by reason and faith ... A just society for all men and women, not just for Americans. “A decent respect for the opinion of all mankind” caused them to address their Declaration of Independence to the entire world!
So, the word “Peace” for Peace Corps Volunteers represents the conviction that peace must encompass the whole world, and it must encompass the whole of our lives, our bodies, minds, and souls! Peace Corps volunteers understand that the only way to change an enemy into a friend is to help him overcome his fears or his lust for power.
