By the dawns early light. What so proudly we hailed. By the twilights last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars. Through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air. Gave proof through the night. That our flag was still there. Oh say does that starspangled banner yet wave. Over the land of the free. And the home of the brave. [applause] i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. For one nation for liberty and justice for all. Thank you to the 177 fighter wing from the new Jersey National guard for providing coverage for this evening ceremony. Tonights invocation we are pleased to have with us u. S. Senate chaplain black serving in the u. S. Navy for over 27 years and completed his distinguished military career as the chief of navy chaplains. June 2003 the rear admiral was elected to serve as the 62nd chaplain of the United States senate and has been in that role ever since. To open tonight ceremony in prayer, here is chaplain black. You may be seated let us pray. The lord, the light of light lights, how majestic is your name in all the earth. We marvel that you care about humanity and have crowned us with glory and honor. Today, except our gratitude for the life and legacy of president dwight Davis Eisenhower and his mercy more than life. We praise you that his love for freedom summoned our nation to embrace. Thank you mighty god for his ability to plant seeds of confidence and to build bridges that help to bring unity to a divided nation and world. Made this memorial dedication remind us of americas opportunity to continue to strive to create a more Perfect Union where justice will roll down like waters like a mighty stream. Lord, give us the grace to what you command and to desire what you have promised. Granted that guided by your light we may reach the light that never fades and for your truth we may reach the truth that is complete with food and fellowship and reflections and inspiration we pray in your sovereign name. Amon a man. To recognize those who made this memorial possible and to acknowledge please welcome the vice chairman of the commission and the representative of the fifth Congressional DistrictMike Thompson. Good evening i am congressman Mike Thompson from californias fifth Congressional District and vice chairman of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission thank you for joining us today to celebrate one of our countrys greatest leaders. Whether you are here in person or watching online you are taking part in a unique tradition this will only be the seventh president ial memorial to be built in washington dc. Congress passed the bill to create the eisenhower memorial well president clinton was in office. Today, two decades later, we are gathered to dedicate this memorial and recognize a lifetime of public service. This memorial or ceremony would not be possible if not for the 12 member commission. Let me recognize my colleagues on the commission who gave their time and energy to establish the Dwight D Eisenhower memorial. For those of you in attendance, please stand when you hear your name. The chairman senator pat roberts of kansas. [applause] senator mansion from west virginia. [applause] senator peters, michigan. [applause] senator sullivan alaska. Congressman bishop from georgia second district. [applause] congressman simpson of idaho second district. [applause] congressman the were very of texas 13 district former kansas senator bob dole. Commission member alfred, susa alfred, susan, and Commission Member catherine and stevens thank you for your leadership and your devotion to this sip project and secretary of interior, secretary of the transplant transportatio transportation, and secretary of education. [applause]. I would alsok the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general mark malley for being with us today. I also want to recognize Robert Scheer representing the marine corps. And colonel michael who is here representing the 101st airborne division. Thank you both for being here. We are also grateful to have the ambassador of the republic of china and the deputy chief of mission from italy with us tonight. Thank you for representing your beautiful nations and the support youve shown for this memorial. This oneofakind piece displays the iconic normandy coast line which general eisenhowers troops invaded on dday. Standing at 80 feet high and 450 feet long, there is not another tapestry like this anywhere in the world. On behalf of the commission, thank you for your incredible work. I also want to recognize the Senior Leadership who are here with us. Randy, david and jared. Thank you for your dedication to completing this fantastic memorial. I also want to recognize alex and kate and eisenhower, president eisenhowers great grandson and great great grandchildren here representing the eisenhower family. We also have merle atwater, the son of Mary Jean Eisenhower and a great grandson of the president as well. We are honored to have you on this special day. Serving to memorialize a truly Great American hero has been a common us honor. Thank you very much. To make a special recognition please welcome the host, full court press and the voice of plugged in. [applause] good evening. If you think this weather is rough, think of what it was like on the English Channel back in 1944. This weather is nothing but the members of the military did for us. Its a great night tonight and they honor general eisenhower. Without this service, this nation would be a very different place. Like many others from world war ii went on to serve the nation and capacitiein capacities and e president in as president he did incredible things. The transformation of the interstate highway system look where that took us all. All across the great nation. In 1958, president eisenhower the civilian space Agency Responsible for the Space Program and look where it took us into the 1954 when the Supreme Court struck down racial segregation but decides the law that was president eisenhower to uphold the decision fighting segregation. The fairness and prosperity which frankly when it comes to personal stories, this story goes back to world war ii before i was born april of 2004 the night before the opening of the world war ii memorial just down the street. I was subverting the fact the following day that memorial would be dedicated. I had the perfect guest that night, senator dole. As a quiet hero himself, he commissioned a Second Lieutenant before shipping off to italy in april 1945 and was wounded by the machine gun fire during an assault on enemy position. With the longest those of working and writes on his forehead so that no one would give him a second fatal dose. He faced overwhelming odds for many years in a military hospital. For his military service, to all of us hes ticketed three times, two purple hearts in the industry and the rockstar to attempt to assist. In 2019 i was embarrassed because as i was sitting there next to him, talking to him about the memorial of world war ii, i said how does this come about and he said world war ii veterans lobbied congress for the land and world war ii veterans raised the money. Im horrified. My generation that reap all of the benefits of general eisenhower and senator dole had increased the money for the monument in order to create thanks to him and everyone else author. We know without general eisenhower and all the others who served this would be a very different world. How noble they were not taking one square foot of land and in the end, rebuilding those that were posed to the war. My conversation didnt stop at the world war ii memorial. Because i wanted to change the topic so when he told me that the project was under way to build this memorial is something he and senator roberts wanted to do and i thought i need to be part of this in some way and of course thats what brings us here tonight. This dedication of this memorial to general eisenhower and speaking tonight its a great honor to be here tonight to thank all of the current people serving in uniform, senator pat roberts, and they all helped us get here. A great inspiration, great reminder to all america and the great things the nation has done and all the great leaders who led us here. A special thanks to senator roberts, senator dole and everyone else who participated in the project so we can continue to remind ourselves of what we can do. Here is senator dole. I am sorry that i could not be with you this evening. As you honor a Great American, divide David Eisenhower. She was a wonderful man. He was honest, he was sincere and had in integrity. He was decisive and he spent much of his time on world war ii trying to reconcile the efforts of the british and the french and the americans, but he did it with expertise and kept everybody on board and because of his brilliant approach, we won world war ii and then eisenhower moved on. Eight years of peace and prosperity and he made many, many tough decisions. So im very proud to be from kansas, not from abilene but not very far away, and im very proud to call general eisenhower, president eisenhow eisenhower, major eisenhower, whatever, my hero. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chief Political Correspondent for fox news. [applause] good evening. Im go wasnt it wonderful to hear from senator bob dole tonight. Obviously a true american hero, Public Servant. My job is to cover the news across the chest and around the world. But im also a huge fan of general eisenhower of our 34th president. In fact so much so i wrote a book about him three days in january Dwight Eisenhowers final mission. The thing i loved about him is what has made him so beloved to this day to generations like mine and younger who were not around during his air. Hohair. He was perfectly reflecting the american ideal. He was an ordinary man that answered the call to reform an extraordinary duties and deeds, and when the war was over, he was humble about it and he realized his fame was earned as he put it in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends. Called to serve once more as president , he was fully aware of his shortcomings. He does a soldier, not a political animal, not the politician. But he was always trusted and he always trusted the American People to be smarter even then their leaders in his own personal code was to associate with and learn from people who knew more than he did. Throughout his lifetime he maintained the manner of the scrappy kid from kansas and you see that here in this memorial. He knew that what made America Great was not its superiority with our weapon systems or the dominance of our economy. As he liked to say, what counts isnt necessarily the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. This is a special event. We are sorry that its raining but it doesnt take away from this moment. I know i could speak on behalf of the boreal commission and say that this ceremony wouldnt be the same if it were not for all of you here tonight and all that youve done. Whether you are here in person ohearing personor watching on cr streaming online. Thank you for coming, thank you for watching and recognizing americas Supreme Commander during world war ii and the 34th president. One quick reminder obviously for everyone to keep social distancing, health and safety. Safety. They do ask of the attendees tonight to practice that and keep your masks on during the event when you are not eating or drinking. Our next speaker is a worldrenowned architect whose works include the Guggenheim Museum in spain, the walt disney concert hall in los angeles, the art gallery of ontario in toronto and many other prestigious buildings around the world. In 195 1957 come he completed hs first professional design, his own house in california which he worked on actually as an apprentice and his most recent is this, the Dwight Eisenhower memorial. His first design for a public project. Unfortunately, he is unable to join us tonight in person, but he did provide a recorded greeting so please welcome frank gehry. I am so greatly honored to be part of this effort to memorialize dwight d. Eisenhower washington, d. C. To prepare for this formidable task, i studied everything. I Read Everything that i could find on his accomplishments, and they were fast. What a legacy. At first glance, surrounded by traffic and office buildings, but that was it. With the help of many starting with words of encouragement from daniel in a way and members of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, led by senator pat roberts, we got it done. Thurber sensitivities by many including the eisenhower family. We listened to all and the result is better. For my life this is one of my proudest moments and i regret that i cannot be there with you to enjoy this. Directed by colonel jason, please welcome the president s own United States marine band and their rendition of salt of the marching man, an arrangement performed at both the 1953 and 1957 inaugurations for president eisenhower. The president s marine band sounds good in any weather. This event wouldnt be possible without the next speaker. Un senator pat roberts is a native can send and has been with the Memorial Commission since it inception in 2001. As the senior u. S. Senator of his home state, it is only fitting senator roberts joined the effort to build a memorial to honor one of kansass favorite sons. When he took on the role as chairman in 2015. Throughout his life, the senator has devoted himself to the citizens of kansas, and on a National Level has been a congressional leader in the sectors of agriculture, health care and defense. But most importantly, senator roberts is a man of character, and that is best shown to his th his ability to balance his lifelong career as a Public Servant along with a steady devotion to his family. Together, he and his wife of over 50 years, who is joining the senator tonight, they have three children and seven grandchildren. We are grateful for his service to the country, for his leadership with the eisenhower commission, and for being here to speak with us tonight. Rain or no rain. I present to you senator pat roberts. [applause] thank you. As an eisenhower author yourself, i know that you share our enthusiasm for his legacy and we appreciate you so much. As pointed out, this is dday and as he said that the 101st, okay, lets go. So here we go. Greetings to all of our guests here tonight and for those of you watching. Now we all wish we could be together in person to celebrate the completion of this magnificent boreal. However, the legacy of dwight d. Eisenhower cannot be constrained by the size of the crowd, because it is reflected in the freedoms that we live every day in america. The memorial designer, frank gehry, and his partners unfortunately are unable to join us tonight, but if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that you dont have to be in the same place together. So, frank, i know you and your team are watching. The brilliance of this memorial will reverberate around the world and live the legacy of dwight d. Eisenhower to an unending global audience. Tonight as we dedicate this memorial, we stand on the shoulders of some giant who made it possible. Senators ted stevens, then senator Daniel Inouye and senator Lisa Murkowski who left his effort alive through her great support. [applause] we couldnt have done this without you, lisa, and i really appreciate it. I want to thank my fellow commissioners as was already done, but to allow us to conduct our business in a supporting way truly an image of the man of the honor tonight, and i want to thank one commissioner in particular, and hes already been thanked and deservedly so, and that is bob dolecome in and talk briefly on the battlefields of italy, under ikes command although gravely wounded, he fought both come his way back to the health and a wonderful career in the United States senate. He applied that same tenacity and spirits to fundraising on behalf of this memorial because of his tireless efforts, the remaining heroes of the greatest generation can now come here and finally, finally salute their commanding officer. Needless to say, we would not be here today without a guiding influence of the eisenhower family. I would like to recognize now David Eisenhower and his wife, Julie Nixon Eisenhower who are with us tonight. David, please stand. I cannot see you but hopefully others will. [applause] and thank you for coming. David is a renowned author. David and susan. Because of your valued input, we have a fitting memorial to your beloved grandfather. Now, we persevere then we persevered and then we got it right. Thank you to the eisenhower family. I want to thank the donors, certainly some of whom are here tonight and without you this memorial and the complete. The donations come in all sizes and we are grateful for every one of them. I would like to extend a special recognition for one in particular. The teacher in east toledo ohio. Back in 2012 in honor of veterans day they pitched in their quarters and pickles and dimes and pennies and sent them to washington so they could support this memorial. Rabin, will you please stand so we can thank you for teaching Young Americans the importance of giving back to their communities and their country as well as their heritage.