Commander in Chief Obama Speaks at Naval Academy Graduation

Kind of cool, I think. Inspiring to the graduates there. Perhaps they had expected John McCain, but instead, they get the new commander.

Here's some text from President Obama's speech, courtesy of the WH blog:

After an era when so many institutions and individuals acted with such greed and recklessness, it's no wonder that our military remains the most trusted institution in our nation. And in a world when so many forces and voices seek to divide us, it inspires us that this class came together and succeeded together, from every state and every corner of the world. By building an institution that's more diverse than ever -- more women, more Hispanics, more African Americans -- the Naval Academy has reaffirmed a fundamental American truth: that out of many, we are one.

We see these values in every one of these sailors and Marines, including those who have already served their country -- the dozens among you with prior enlisted service.

It's the perseverance of Elvin Vasquez, a Marine supply chief in Iraq -- who finally got into the Naval Academy on his third try -- who never gave up trying because he says, "there's just something about being a Marine."

It's the example of Carlos Carbello -- -- who left the tough streets of L.A. to serve on a destroyer in the Pacific and who has used his time here to mentor others, because he's the oldest midshipman -- the old man -- at the age of 26.

It's the patriotism of Sade Holder -- who came to America as a child from Trinidad, enlisted in the Navy and then earned the titles she values most: "U.S. citizen" and "Navy Midshipman" and today, "Ensign."

And it's the reverence for tradition shown by James P. Heg -- a communications -- a communications maintenance Marine in Iraq who today is joined by the man who first urged him to sign up, his grandfather, returning six decades after he was a midshipman, a submariner from World War II, 89-year-old Captain James E. Heg.

Honor. Courage. Commitment. These are the values that have defined your years in the Yard and that you'll need in the years ahead as you join the fleet, and as you join and lead the Marines, as you confront the ever-changing threats of an ever-changing world.

Congrats to the Navy officers and our new defenders. I wonder if JRE had been president if he would been asked first by one of the academies to be the speaker at Annapolis, as Elizabeth's dad was a naval pilot.