MARCOS:

time has not yet come for you to lay down the heavy burden and responsibility of leadership in the free
world, or for that matter, of the world. for by the inexorable decision of destiny you have become the
trustee of our civilization and you cannot abandon this role no matter what you do

how can america speak to asia i would say, america speak from the depths of your own heart. speak in
the language of Jefferson, speak with the wisdom of a Lincoln, speak with the compassion of Roosevelt,
with the vision of kennedy and the ringing challenge of president johnson

when he said the peace that i seek is not a peace that means the absence of armed hostilities. where
men, hunger, and hate there can be no peace. the peace I seek is a peace of conciliation, a conciliation
of the communist states with their non-communist neighbors between the rich nations and the poor,
between the great and the small. this is the peace I seek. Can it come about in all my heart? i think it can

we have far to go, far to journey, addressed in these accents america asia will listen to you and
confronted with these challenges asia will respond

but the most painful feeling that i had is that which I felt when i talked to my former comrades in the
world, for they scooped at our medals and lofted our scars. especially one particular scar that I bear with
pride, with as much pride as any decoration that has been granted me. a scar from a wound i received in
attempting to save the life of an american comrade. where is your american friend now they asked me.
he is dead and with him have died all our dreams. yes he was my american comrade and he was a blood
brother for he fought in my native land. we were surrounded as often we were. we had to break out,
and in breaking out, i saw him fall and try to crawl to safety. i returned to him only to fall beside him.
blood of filipino and american omingling in Philippine soil. as i cradled him in my arms towards a
foxhole, he said i die. but go tell them, tell them back home you who will live, tell them that i die with
only one regret and that is, that america has failed us and the filipino that i was, as if I could retrieve him
with my words from the hands of death, answered him with confidence, as i said no america does not
forget that america will not fail.

many years have passed since then, and time should have muted the tone of confidence and the tyranny
of circumstance should have eroded these memory. but today, i still say, as i have said to my people, no,
america is just, america does not forget, America will not pay less