"He's a hometown boy that made good," said Michael Massee, 48, city attorney in Benson who clerked for Roll from 1994 to '96. He said Roll, who was 63, liked to hire veterans, was proud when his son joined the Navy, and asked his staff to work as hard as he did. "He was a patriot," Massee said.Meanwhile, President Obama eulogized diplomat Richard Holbrooke:
As we look to the next generation, it is fitting, as David mentioned, that this memorial take place at the Kennedy Center, named for the President who called Richard’s generation to serve. It’s also fitting that this memorial takes place at a time when our nation has recently received a tragic reminder that we must never take our public servants for granted and must always honor their work.
America is not defined by ethnicity. It’s not defined by geography. We are a nation born of an idea, a commitment to human freedom.
And over the last five decades, there have been countless times when people made the mistake of counting on America’s decline or disengagement. Time and again, those voices have been proven wrong, but only because of the service and sacrifice of exceptional men and women, those who answered the call of history and made America’s cause their own.
