Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, Representative of Maryland’s 6th Congressional District,
Mr. Ken Burris, Director of the National Fire Academy,
Mr. Stephen Sharro, Director of the Emergency Management Institute,
honored guests and dear friends.
Good afternoon.
I am Alexander Atzert, Chairman of the National Civil Defense Monument Commission .
We have been waiting a long time for this day; the day we break ground for the National Civil Defense/Emergency Management Monument. A monument that pays tribute to those that have given so much in caring for their neighbors, the residents and citizens of these United States, and people of other nations.
In covering the history of the monument, I need to mention some of my personal experiences and other events in history. Protecting people by understanding the principles of mitigating exposure to natural and man made disasters, providing life saving resources during disasters, and recovering from disasters have been functions that have their roots in history and have enabled people from small groups, towns, cities, and the population of nations to survive. Fortunately for our Nation, people such as you have espoused these principles.
During the Great Fire of London in 1666, personnel and property losses were reduced by mitigating the spread of fire through the removal on wooden buildings. Most buildings were constructed of wood. When the fire was finally extinguished, an area of 1.5 miles by 1.5 miles lay in ruins. Destroyed were 18 churches, 13.200 house and 6 people lost their lives. The efforts to prevent losses were a success with respect to lives but a real disaster for the property. After the fire, buildings constructed used bricks to reduce the threat of fire. Insurance companies realized their losses could be reduced by paying personnel to fight fires. Did the civil defense principles of protecting lives and property start the Fire Service, as we know it today?
In 1947 my family moved to Europe and I saw first hand the destruction of the war. When viewing the ruins, one had to ask how anyone survived. There were many survivors due to civil defense programs. After returning from Europe in 1948, new perils were on the horizon. I remember civil defense drills in school where we would crawl under a desk or lay at the base of a wall to obtain the greatest protection from a bomb blast. A friend of the family, Justice M. Chambers, known as Joe Chambers, built one of the first fallout shelters in Montgomery County, in his home in Rockville, Maryland. Joe had seen the horrors of war and the benefits of population protection. Joe was a true American hero, the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and a great supporter of the Civil Defense program.
My work has always been related to what we know as Civil Defense and Emergency Management. I considered it an extreme honor to be asked to serve as the chairman of the National Civil Defense Monument Commission and persue construction of the National Civil Defense/Emergency Monument. Thoughts of construction the monument started when John Bex was asked by Fred Villela to get a Memorial constructed for the Fire Service for which $70,000 or $90,000 had been made available. John Bex then asked about a monument for the Civil Defense personnel and had $40,000 earmarked for it. But the money disappeared and private funds were sought for the Civil Defense Monument. After almost 20 years we are realizing the construction of the monument that pays tribute to the personnel, you, that have worked in Civil Defense and Emergency Management for pay and/or as a volunteer.
Many thanks to all the people and organizations that have supported construction of the monument. Representative Barlett for introducing the bill, Representative Goodling for being a co-sponsor and the other 8 co-sponsors in the House and the 349 representatives who supported the bill, the United States Senate that provided unanimous support, and the President for signing the bill into Public Law #106-103.
I now ask John Bex to please stand. John, it has been your love for the people that this monument represents and your unwavering persistence that is making this a reality. Let’s have a round of applause for John Bex.
Thank you and this has been a wonderful day.
Date this page was last updated:
02/10/2002 05:21 PM