We are having quite an Eagles day here at the Embassy.

This morning I had the great pleasure of hosting my rippa rugby friends from Ōtaki School for morning tea. As I mentioned previously, the boys and girls from Ōtaki – a.k.a. the Mini Eagles — represented the United States at the Rippa Rugby World Cup in Auckland last month. To celebrate their valiant performance on our behalf, we invited the Mini Eagles team to visit the Embassy.

I awarded each of the players an Ambassador’s medal and gave the team a rugby ball signed by all of the (Big) Eagles players for the School’s trophy case. The rippas responded with a stirring haka and songs. After all the snacks were consumed, I took the kids for a tour of my office. I was pleasantly surprised to get a lesson from one of the girls on how to blow the ceremonial conch shell that sits on my desk.

Then we piled into cars and hustled out to Porirua to join the Big Eagles at their training ground. We watched the practice for awhile. The big guys took a break, and the rippas performed a ferocious haka for them. Mini Eagles Captain Sage Minarapa gave Big Eagles Captain Todd Clever a hongi lesson. And then the two teams practiced line- outs together.

The teams chatted for awhile. A lot of photos were taken. The kids kicked a few goals. The Eagles handed out mini rugby balls. And more photos were taken. It was clear that the Big Eagles and the Mini Eagles enjoyed their time together. As did I.

Now, I’m packing up to drive over to Scots College where we are hosting a public Meet-the-Eagles party this evening. If all goes as planned, we’ll have a rousing American-style pep rally to help prepare the team for Friday’s match with Australia. The Scots’ orchestra will perform, and we’ll be serving burgers, hotdogs, potato salad, fries, flag cake, and more.

But I’ll tell you about that later. I don’t want to be late.

It has been an absolutely great night of rugby here in New Plymouth as our USA Eagles showed what they are made of. With a 13-6 victory over the Russians, the Eagles proved that they are in New Zealand to play. In driving rain and forceful wind, the US hit hard, stayed tough, and shut down the other side when it mattered most.

There was a party atmosphere in the stands despite the weather. The Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band performed. I thoroughly enjoyed mingling through the large numbers of American supporters, many of them in costumes … including dozens of Uncle Sams, several Miss Americas, a few Rocky Horror Picture Show Columbias, two Colonel Sanders, at least one full-on Captain America, and an inexplicable 6-foot panda with a red, white, and blue top hat.

Out on the pitch it was a hard-fought game on both sides, with lots of heart. Russia jumped out to a 0-3 lead early on a penalty kick, but the Eagles fought back to 3-3, 10-3, and 13-3, holding on to close the match at 13-6. The adjectives of the evening were wet, cold, and physical. The game was not as close as the score implies, and I know that the Eagles feel good about their tenacious, relentless performance.

Of course we eased into the appropriate mood with an exuberant pre-game tailgate party at the TSB Showplace. The Marine Corps Show Band blew the roof off as more than 200 guests (including the Eagles’ families) enjoyed brew, burgers, hotdogs, cole slaw, tater salad, freedom fries, and apple pie a la mode. I delivered a very diplomatic speech emphasizing civility, and then the party spilled out onto the street in a most unruly fashion as we were joined by other revelers in a variety of costumes including, oddly, two Teletubbies and a guy dressed like Stalin.

The evening was a marvelous way to cap a great week in Taranaki. The Eagles, Marines, my Embassy colleagues, and I have barnstormed through the region … with a couple dozen school visits, concerts, television and radio interviews, and other public appearances. Plus a little sightseeing, a little culture, and lots of great food.

With the streets decked out in red, white, and blue, the good people of New Plymouth and surrounding towns have welcomed us warmly and enthusiastically. And they have made quite a big impression.

I regret that I can’t stay the weekend to explore the region further. The Marines will be playing a concert at Old St Paul’s on Friday evening, and I need to hit the road to get back to Wellington in time. I know, though, that Dr McWaine and I will be coming back up to Taranaki soon, and frequently. We love it up here.

We’ve been barnstorming Taranaki the past few days with the Eagles, the Marine Corps Pacific Forces Band, my colleagues from the Embassy, and a robust contingent of American expats and Kiwi friends. If you’ve been watching TV or reading the papers, you’ve probably seen pictures of our parade through New Plymouth, various school visits, the rock ‘n roll unit of the Band playing at the International Showcase, and outdoor concerts.

We planned as well to introduce New Plymouth to the venerable American cultural touchstone known as the tailgate party. Staged from the backs of our cars and pick-up trucks in the parking lots of sports stadiums, tailgate parties are exuberant communal social events before the start of sports matches. Sometimes the parties are so good that people don’t even go into the game.

Because the weather was a bit dodgy before the USA/Ireland match, we moved the party indoors to the TSB Showplace. We served piles of hamburgers, hotdogs, coleslaw, freedom fries, potato salad, homemade apple pie with ice cream, and other American delicacies. Beer and wine flowed freely (but responsibly). And the party unit of the Marine Band entertained us with dixieland and rock ‘n roll selections.

When the weather cleared a bit we moved out onto the balcony of the theater so that we could better serenade our friends from Ireland, who were demurely sipping non-alcoholic cordials and quietly discussing Proust under a tent a half block away. Our singing, trumpeting, and dancing started to draw a fun crowd on the street below, including an unexpected brigade of Uncle Sams, before we had to pack things up to dash to the stadium for the game, where the Marines also performed.

The first graphic above clicks through to a short snippet from the balcony phase of the tailgate party. The second graphic is a slideshow of photos from the event. In both cases, just a taste from early in the proceedings.

We’ll be returning to the TSB Showcase on Thursday before the USA/Russia game … with more American food, drink, music, and camaraderie. If you’re in the CBD, listen for music, laughing, and cheering in the air. Go Eagles.

Today I had the solemn honor of participating in a memorial service to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9-11, at St Andrew’s Church in New Plymouth. Led by my friend the Reverend Kim Francis, the memorial drew more than 500 Kiwis, Americans, Irish, and others to pray, sing, remember, and show solidarity.

Our Marine Band joined St Andrew’s choir to provide music. I was joined at the front of the congregation by the entire USA Eagles team and other special friends including Mayor Harry Duynhoven and the Mayoress, MP Jonathan Young, and my colleagues Ambassador Frankie Reed, Special Representative Reta Jo Lewis, and ANP Desk Officer Michele Petersen.

Today is a challenging day, but the juxtaposition of solemn remembrance and exuberant sport is not as discordant as it may seem at first blush. It is essential that we remember the 3,000 people murdered on 9-11, but it is equally essential that we celebrate the resilience of the human spirit and the courage and strength of communities visited by tragedy. So we carry on.

Pastor Francis asked me to speak at the service. My colleagues suggested that I share my remarks with you, so here they are:

* * *

There are rare days, maybe once every few generations, that galvanize the collective hearts and minds of humanity.

Days that dispel in a flash the billions of distractions of everyday life … that boil off, even if only temporarily, the political, religious, national, and cultural pretenses that we humans create to separate ourselves from each other.

Days that resonate deep inside us where the common core of our humanity exists, rather than on the surface where we live most of our earthly life.

9–11 was one of those days.

We watched live on television the brutal murders of 3,000 human beings from 90 different nations. They were people of all religious beliefs, all political viewpoints, young and old, men and women, gay and straight.

They were murdered by those preaching hatred, simply to instill fear.

And we reacted with near unanimous horror and sorrow.

The perpetrators of the carnage would wish us to relive that horror and feel that fear as we mark the tenth anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001. What we commemorate today, however, is not the fact that remorseless evil lives among us, something that even the most blinkered moral relativist already knows in his heart.

Instead, we commemorate the triumph of the human spirit … the common humanity, empathy, and self abnegation that set us apart from the other species on this planet.

We commemorate those police, fire, and rescue workers who raced into – rather than out of – collapsing buildings.

We commemorate those regular citizens who carried – rather than trampled – strangers as they themselves struggled down burning, smoke-filled, crumbling stairwells.

We commemorate the passengers of United Flight 93, including two American rugby players, who battled the hijackers in the aisle with coffee pots, cutlery, and shoes, broke into the cockpit, and crashed the airplane into a field in Pennsylvania, thus averting the destruction of the terrorists’ intended target, this planet’s iconic symbol of democratic self-determination, the US Capitol Building.

We commemorate those who survived the attacks, including my brother Rick, who was at the South Tower when the airplanes struck the World Trade Center.

And we remember all those we lost and their families and loved ones … not only those lost in the American Northeast on that day but all those lost on other days in Madrid, London, Bali, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Mumbai, Oklahoma City, Oslo, Jakarta, Manila, Kabul, Lahore, Baghdad, Kigali, and far too many other towns and cities.

But today, beyond sadness, we also commemorate, honor, and indeed celebrate the resilience and determination of communities around the world that have suffered attacks by violent extremists … communities that have pulled together and demonstrated that they are stronger than fear.

We commemorate, honor, and indeed celebrate the many people around the world working to prevent new attacks, to confront and overcome violent ideologies, and to address and combat the circumstances that create breeding grounds for violent extremism.

And finally, and I think most importantly, we commemorate, honor, and indeed celebrate what violent extremists themselves fear most: the great human instinct toward empathy, kindness, and solidarity.

As I find is often the case, the most trenchant commentary comes not from those who peddle words for a living. And the best example is found not among those who presume to lead from a safe, comfortable, and convenient distance.

I look somewhere quite different for inspiration and hope. In the days following September 11, 2001, our Embassy received an email from a Wellington mum sharing the following story:

“My son TK (who will be 4 years old next week) watched as the American flag outside the American Embassy was put to half mast yesterday morning. The Embassy is across the road from TK’s crèche, and after the flag was lowered, he asked why.

“His teachers explained to him that it was because lots of people had been hurt, and then the teachers suggested that the children take flowers over to the Embassy as a mark of respect.

“TK proudly carries his purple flowers forward and placed them beside the flag, then stood back and waited while his friends did the same. He waited, eyes on the flag. When his teachers told him it was time to go, he started crying. The teacher asked what the matter was. TK had thought that by putting the flowers under the flag that would make the people better and the flag would therefore rise again.

“TK was sad that the flowers didn’t help, so he also made 2 cardboard airplanes and asked me to send them to replace the ones that the bad men had broken.”

TK’s mum went on to say that she sent an email to United Airlines telling them about TK’s cardboard planes and offering her condolences. That email was circulated widely within the company, and a line manager in Chicago sent back an email saying:

“Touched does not begin to explain how I feel. During these hard times for us all, it helps to see the hope and goodness in our future generation. Your son must have a very kind heart.”

Yes, TK does have a very kind heart. And he’s not alone. There are millions of TKs out there, and they stepped up on the darkest of days when we needed them most.

It is in nurturing, protecting, and empowering those kind hearts that we find our best hope for building a positive legacy from the events we remember here today.

He aha te mea nui?

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

Kati ake i konei. Ma te Atua koutou e manaaki.