Cord Byrd: “on a cold winter afternoon in 1941, a young boy of fourteen went about his daily business, engaged in his humble…”

“on a cold winter afternoon in 1941, a young boy of fourteen went about his daily business, engaged in his humble profession. I can imagine that to many of the pedestrians who made their way down Central Park West that day, this youngster perhaps was nothing extraordinary, just another shoeshine boy. However, this was not just another winter day; it was December 7, 1941. It marked the beginning of America's active participation in the greatest struggle of the twentieth century, a war that would take this boy and make him a man. And it was, perhaps, the last time Daniel Patrick Moynihan was left standing on the sidelines as the controversies and events that would affect our Nation unfolded. So this was not just another boy. Today, I honor this man and commemorate his transformation from a humble shoe-shine boy to the senior Senator from the State of New York. It is with a heavy heart, a heart that is filled with admiration, that I bid Senator Moynihan farewell and thank him for his ceaseless efforts on behalf of the people of New York and this Nation.”