Speech by Dr. J.P. (Jack) London, Event Chairman

Thank You, Andrew, and good evening ladies and gentlemen and "scouts of all ages." We are truly honored this evening to be here on this fine occasion - to honor and recognize Robert M. Gates - as the Capital Area Council's "Citizen of the Year" for 2007. And what a scouting record he has!

I also want to express my thanks and appreciation for all of you being here tonight - and for your support - with your funds, with your time and with all your good wishes!

The Boy Scouts of America is a pillar in our American society and in our national culture. And may it ever be so - a source of our country's leadership, too.

For my part, I am very proud of the eight years or so, in the late '70s and early '80s, that I served as an Assistant Scout Master capacity with T-218 (Kensington, MD Baptist Church) and, indeed, here with T-52 at All Saints Church, Chevy Chase, MD.

And there are Eagle Scouts in our family, too. My son, J. Phillip London, Jr., is an Eagle Scout, and my son-in-law, Joseph Eric Dennis, is an Eagle Scout - and he serves tonight in uniform in Afghanistan in Herat, with six months left on his tour. That's 365 days boots on the ground.

My wife's nephew, 1st Lt. Aaron N. Seesan, U.S. Army, also was an Eagle Scout and served his country, too. He was killed in Iraq in May 2005 by an IED while conducting a bomb sweep in Mosul, and we are proud of his service and all that he did for the country. Now he soars on "Eagle Wings." The Boy Scouts of America have developed our finest leaders!

God bless the Boy Scouts of America.

God bless America.

Thank you, and our hearty congratulations to Robert Gates, 39^th recipient of the Scout's Citizen of the Year Award.