Secretary Kissinger, Dana and John, and members of the family, distinguished guests:
This is a very sad occasion for all Americans, as we gather here to pay tribute to a great patriot, one of our most admired and one of our most respected diplomats. Rodger Davies leaves behind many friends and many, many accomplishments in the career that he selected.
He possessed the full measure of many of those attributes which are so invaluable as a person and in the career that he sought. He had judgment, he had dignity, he had wisdom, and he had humor, and all of these are necessary ingredients for the job that he chose for his full life.
As the Secretary has mentioned, Rodger Davies was a professional in the fullest sense. His services to our country embodied the best of time, of effort, and competence. He loved and worked for peace, and he lost his life in the search for peace for all America and all the world.
On Monday of this past week I had the opportunity to make some remarks to a group who had served their country in uniform, and I had the sad occasion to announce to that group the loss of life by Rodger Davies. And I said to them and I repeat here today, some serve in uniform, some serve in other capacities. The loss of life in either case means as much to America.
And, therefore, it is appropriate on this occasion that we pay a very special tribute to a great Ambassador, highly respected by his friends, a person who gave his full life to the career that he sought. So, I say it is an honor for me on this occasion to present, on behalf of all Americans, the flag to Dana, the Ambassador's flag, to which your father, as my personal representative in the service of his country, brought such great distinction.
Note: The President spoke at 11:40 a.m. at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., where he and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger met the plane bearing Ambassador Davies' children, Dana and John, and the body of the slain Ambassador.
On the same day, the President signed Executive Order 11801 directing the flag to be flown at half-staff on the day of interment as a mark of respect for Ambassador Davies.
Prior to the President's remarks, Secretary Kissinger spoke as follows:
Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:
A professional Foreign Service officer has come home. He returns not to joy, but to sadness; not to parades, but to solemn ceremony.
Rodger Davies embodied the qualities and spirit which mark an American. He chose an unusual profession, a profession which required that to serve his country he leave his home but never forget it.
Wherever he went, the heritage of America was in his heart. He remembered the dignity of the individual where individuals had lost their dignity. He remembered the rights to liberty and justice where these rights were under attack. He remembered peace where there was war. In that sense, Rodger Davies never left home.
In the diplomatic entrance at the Department of State, the American Foreign Service Association maintains plaques which list the names of those members of the Foreign Service who gave their lives under heroic or tragic circumstances in the service of their country. It is not a short list, and now tragically another name will be added.
I am today awarding to Ambassador Davies the highest award of the Department of State, the Secretary's Award. The citation reads as follows:
"For inspiring leadership, outstanding courage, and dedication to duty for which he gave his life, Nicosia, August 19, 1974."
Awards and names on plaques are little comfort to those who loved and admired Rodger Davies. To his children, Dana and John, I would only repeat my remarks of Monday that Ambassador Davies was beloved, admired, and respected by his colleagues. He was a professional in the fullest and best sense of the word.
Dana and John, your father leaves behind a legacy of which any man should be proud. Even more important, he leaves a multitude of friends whose lives were enriched by knowing him.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honor to introduce a man who in less than 2 weeks has given hope to America and inspired confidence in the world, the President of the United States.
Gerald R. Ford, Remarks at a Ceremony Honoring the Slain United States Ambassador to Cyprus. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256738
