Wednesday, April 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
DEATH SOUNDS a wake-up call.
As a still-shocked nation grimly buries the victims of last week's tragic airplane crash in Bosnia, more questions than answers plague us about how and why such a tragedy had to happen.
In the end, I believe the answer will center on the indefatigable secretary of Commerce and his U.S. business-seeking colleagues who sought only success for the United States at the unthinkable risk of their lives. The rest will be a combination of bad weather, bad instruments and bad luck.
As President Clinton eulogizes Secretary Ron Brown today, he'll be celebrating a life dedicated to the pursuit and realization of the American Dream. He'll also pay honor to those young people who were following their dreams of a better America when they anxiously stepped aboard that ill-fated flight in search of a better tomorrow. And, of course, he will share the grief felt by the families of the Air Force personnel and the CEOs and other top business leaders who were trying to help bring peace through commerce to that war-ravaged area of the world.
There are cynics among us, though, who will see an entirely different picture of the wreckage strewn across that mountain top which wiped out almost three dozen Americans. They will see a picture of corporate greed and government interference. They will whisper about a "one world order" and other conspiracies which will give pause for otherwise decent Americans to question the value of the lives just given for their country.
There's not much we can do or say about such individuals who continually seek the dark side of every good thing people in this country try to do except to resolve to think longer and harder about such nonsense before we chime in as a chorus of naysayers. Cynics can't thrive in an optimistic society.
Ron Brown was an optimist. He was a truly remarkable man who rose from a far-from-opportunity-filled life in the ghetto to a position of power as head of the Democratic National Committee. As leader of the DNC he played a major role in the election of President Clinton. When he took the job as secretary of Commerce, Brown's mission was to pursue the president's goal of making government a partner in the pursuit of business around the globe. Both men knew that every dollar spent on U.S. goods overseas meant new and better jobs for American workers back home.
And Ron Brown pursued his mission unlike any secretary of Commerce before him. Don't ask the petty business types who can't think past their IRS returns what they thought about the secretary's efforts. And don't ask even pettier politicians who think decimating the Department of Commerce is good for this country's economic future and better for their own political fortunes.
Instead, talk to the hundreds of corporate CEOs who joined Ron Brown on whirlwind development missions that have led to billions of dollars in business and thousands of jobs. Ask the U.S. Chamber of Commerce how grateful it has been for Secretary Brown's leadership.
They'll tell you that the efforts Ron Brown made on our behalf really worked. And they'll tell you that the young staff members who worked tirelessly for the secretary in pursuit of his desire to enhance American business interests in the global community should be commended not condemned for their idealism.
The United States has lived through some difficult and trying times in the past few years. Terrorist bombings that rocked the foundations of our buildings and shook our belief in America as a secure nation have taken a great toll on the national psyche. They have made us realize that we live in a world that reaches across borders in pursuit of irrational and deadly goals. They have taught us the hard way that we cannot isolate ourselves from what goes on around us.
But watching the flag-draped coffins loaded onto the hearses as they arrived from Bosnia this weekend seemed, at that moment, even worse than the bombings, if that's possible. Those pictures on television were enough to shake the confidence of even the proudest, strongest and most stubborn of peoples.
It was no shame to shed tears at the sight of the American bodies coming home to grief-stricken families. There may be shame for those who didn't.
America will endure because she has to. To do less would dishonor the memories of those wonderful young people, the business leaders, our people in uniform and the secretary. To do less would be to give in to the cynics who seek always to tear down those who give themselves to public service. And to do less would be to give credence to a faction in this country which would rather show scorn than give praise for the best among us.
As Americans, we must always be grateful for leaders who often give too much of themselves to help better our own lives. As Americans, we should always remember the spirit of service and belief in this country that the people on that plane took with them when they crashed into a mountain far from home. And, as Americans, we should be thankful for all the good that those we have buried this week did for their country.
And we should try to do as well ourselves.
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