English subtitles for clip: File:Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient John Glenn.webm

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John Glenn:
To be considered among those
of the group that are being,

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getting this award today,
the other awardees,

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it is sort of a humbling
experience I guess.

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Because some of those
people are very,

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very talented and they have
really left their mark on

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this country.

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And so it is an honor
to be here with them.

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I think on something like today
what I hope comes out of this

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today is not necessarily just
the honor for those of us that

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are awardees here, but I hope
this can be put out to schools

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and things like that where,
where the kids get some

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encouragement, some inspiration
to do their own thing in

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their own time.

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Most of the people that are here
today if you look down that list

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are people that you would
say are very curious people.

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I don't mean strange.

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I mean curious in that they
are curious about things

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around them.

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And that kind of curiosity
is at the heart of all,

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all progress that
has ever been made.

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Somebody wonders, can we do this
or why can't we do this or let's

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do this amount of research in
a different way or something.

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And those are the things that
move our country forward.

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And I think whether you look
at education, or as research,

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this curious nature that
most Americans seem to have.

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Those two things to me are what
really were different about this

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country and that everybody
here deserves an education and

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everybody was curious
about things around them.

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And we learned the new things
first and out of that came a

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whole country that
led the world.

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And I think whatever nation is
leading the world 50 years from

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now will be the nation that
leads in education and research.

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I think the main thing is to
live your own life as much as

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you can as an example of, of
what you think is right, fair.

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And they'll follow suit.

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And I think that is true
for most kids these days.

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And that is the reason I
do hope that these, this,

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whatever happens here today
with the awardees, I think,

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I hope the kids in schools look
at this and get some idea that

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they too can excel, they
too can do these things that

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are notable.

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Well, I am inspired
everyday by a lot of things.

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A few years ago someone said
that the United States was like

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a shining city set on a hill.

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And indeed it is
compared to most nations.

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But one of the problems is that
we have too many people who

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haven't been able to make
their way into that shining

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community yet.

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And so we have to work on that
all of the time and make sure

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that it is more fair and
just for all of our people,

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not just for a few.

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So those are the things that I
think that we talk about some

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and discuss with the students.

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And I am optimistic that most
of the students that I talk to

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these days at the college
level or university level,

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are ones who want to see
this country advance,

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and they are willing
to do their part.

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And I am optimistic
about the future.