Political Quotes

“Well, Wally, that guy whose hat you blew up, was one of the original seven astronauts. And he was the only astronaut to have flown on all three space craft, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. And what is remarkable, and maybe this was caught to some degree in that movie The Right Stuff, which had a lot of Chuck Yeager in it, but also had some astronauts, was that a lot of Americans in aviation, who did not take themselves too seriously, and Wally Schirra was one of those guys and still is one of those guys, and who had a great sense of humor, did very serious things. Here is a guy who was a pilot, a naval officer, carrier-based fighter pilot and test pilot, and engaged in this very serious pursuit in which a lot of people were killed. After they came back from war, people like Richard Bong, who shot down more planes in the Pacific theater than anyone, was killed on his first test flight trying to fly a new experimental aircraft. So these Americans, like Wally, like Chuck Yeager, like others, and I think we are reminded of this in the wake of the events with Columbia, live in a world which is very dangerous, and in which a lot of their friends and colleagues have died. And in doing that, they have pushed American capability and technology, and we are able to keep ourselves free to a much further height than we could have ever achieved if we did not have these great people.”