ND1005111

Title: Tom Brokaw Inspires and Challenges NACS Show Attendees

Description: Delivering the closing address at the NACS Show, Tom Brokaw implored attendees to reenlist as citizens, ensuring the successful future of the next generation.

Page Content: CHICAGO ? Television journalist and best-selling author Tom Brokaw delivered the keynote address at the NACS Show Closing General Session yesterday, opening his talk by sharing the opening line from his upcoming book:

�

?Whatever happened to the America I thought I knew? Have we just lost our way temporarily??

�

The book?s premise hits at the root of a common concern he hears across the country: ?I?m worried that my children will not have the same life that I had,? he said.

�

It?s no wonder. With the consumer confidence index at 55 percent and with only 20 percent of Americans believing that the country is headed in the right direction, ?There is great anxiety across the land,? he said.

�

But the answer, Brokaw said, is not one of taking more, but of giving back. ?There?s a conversation we have to have with each other, and the place to begin is this: All of us need to give back beyond our individual and family needs,? he said.

�

Brokaw said we could start by supporting the members of America?s armed forces, a disproportionate 1 percent of Americans who are assuming 100 percent of the risk, who often return home with great economic, physical and emotional needs.

�

?What is our obligation?? Brokaw asked. ?We have to do more to help these families and these veterans so that they know they?re part of the American family.?

�

Brokaw urged Show attendees to return to their stores and communities and ?find a way to take the extra step, to find a family and ask, ?How can I help??

�

?Train them for this economy, help them find jobs,? he said, ?because the next great phase of our lives will be reintegrating these warriors into a civilian society ? so that they don?t feel that their sacrifices were in vain.?

�

Brokaw said our commitment must cut across partisan lines and begin at the ground up, ?a commitment from all of us, whatever our line of work and political affiliation. That?s the true meaning of citizenship.?

�

Brokaw incorporated his thoughts on today?s digital world, advancements that he termed ?exciting? and ?transformative? yet far from perfect.

�

?A tweet will never replace holding hands on a first date,? he said, ?and texting I LUV U is not the same as whispering it into someone?s ear.

�

?We have to find a balance between the power of technology and the continuing need of putting our boots on the ground,? he said.

�

Brokaw acknowledged he has interviewed some of the world?s most famous celebrities and politicians during a career that has spanned half a century, but that the most memorable ones were with people ?whose names I don?t really know.?

�

He recounted the story of a doctor from Oklahoma he met in Somalia. The doctor operated on children while mortar fire blared overhead, who explained to Brokaw that he want to share his gift of orthopedic skills with the world.

�

?Those are the people that I remember, the people who step forward to give more than what is expected of them,? Brokaw said.

�

Brokaw said it will take all of us to get out of our comfort zones and actively decide to determine the long-term future of America, which will require sacrifices of time and money.

�

?I would hope that however you were raised ? whatever your circumstances,? Brokaw concluded, ?that we would all find ways to reenlist as citizens so that 100 years from now ? historians will look back and say, ?They, too, were the next greatest generation.??

Content Subject: NACS, NACS Show

Formatted Article Date: October 5, 2011

really nice stories read and know