>> ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce a man that many of you know. it is the chairman of the 2011 san francisco fleet week committee. [applause] >> i have to move the microphone down. welcome. in the marine corps, navy, we

always started every event talking about safety. it struck me that the safety for this event, they do it every day, but it is so visible today. everywhere you look today, there coast guard vessels providing safety. let's give a special hand for the united states coast guard. [applause] i want to thank, o commadore nolan and the st. francis yacht club. [applause] fleet week is something that we raise funds for to be able to do great things for the people. this particular event has been sponsored by bank of america. i want to thank bank of america for sponsoring this today.

[applause] we're blessed to have a mayor that is very supportive of what we do, not just during the one week, but it all times, he is particularly supportive of the united states military and naval services. please help me welcome our mayor, the honorable mayor edwin lee. [applause] >> thank you. good morning. it has been our honor and pleasure to join all of you here at the st. francis yacht club to celebrate and welcome the fleet to fleet week. this is the 30th anniversary of our fleet week.

senator feinstein really helped to restart this. i want to personally thank her for her leadership in doing this. may god be with her as she is helping run the country in these very part-time -- very hard times. this 30th anniversary is very special for us. this year, we have more marines and navy personnel, and coasties and we have ever seen before. it is growing. it has been a tradition and it is also something we chairs, being part of a great city and country. i want to make sure we understand that this has been and always will be our opportunity to honor the men and women in our military for their dedication and devotion. san francisco will always carry on this tradition in the best

way possible. thank you all for coming. [applause] this is also a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the very first navel-aviation exercise to take place in 1911 right off the san francisco bay. there is so much more to recognize. we have the return of the uss carl vinson. that is special for us. in 1984, mayor feinstein help us celebrate and adopt it as one of our own in san francisco with its crew. we have made it our own. i want to welcome them back. i want to make sure you know that our navy personnel have been so much a part of the tradition.

they have shown their dedication by working with our local nonprofits and communities to build stronger community ties. we have the blue angels that will be appearing later on. anita asked me what the airplanes were for. i want to recognize and welcome our consul general from canada. i want to thank her for being -- bringing down the royal navy and royal air force. they will perform with the blue angels. it will be a wonderful show this afternoon. [applause] i want to recognize our former secretary of state and mrs.

schultz. thank you for being here and giving us your great support. [applause] as we continue working on fleet week throughout the year, i wanted to give a personal thanks to the admiral of the third fleet and all of the personnel from the different armed forces for being here. the marines, navy, and coast guard. they are working with us to celebrate the tradition and recognize persons in uniform. we're doing something very special that i continue to credit the general 4. we wanted to make sure fleet week touches all the citizens of san francisco. we have found a way to do that. one of the most important things we are doing in our city is getting better prepared for the next disaster. as we do that, we recognize the

military is the expert. in recognizing their expertise and humanitarian assistance around the world, we can built upon all of that. it should not surprise you that the theme this of fleet week hae evolved into disaster preparedness. it is not if. it is when. it is prudent for us to make sure that fleet week addsin the serious work of relationship building and exercises, anticipation of information sharing, and movement of personnel and supplies, and practice those things with all of our different departments.

i want to thank you, general, for leading that effort. i want to thank the various departments that we have. the port, public works, the recreation and parks department, the airport, our police, fire, and department of emergency management and safety. i want to again extend this welcome to you. thank you for being here. we have wonderful armed services for our country. i am very proud of being the mayor of this city to celebrate fleet week to celebrate in the honor to all the men and women of our armed forces. general, thank you for your great leadership. to all our corporate sponsors, thank you. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. yesterday, the mayor told me he declared this a special day.

we are really blessed to have two honorary co-chairs that drives us. they keep us going in the right direction. secretary shultz has spoken and a number of events this week. senator feinstein would be here speaking today, but it was not possible for her to be here. the person who was with her when they created fleet week 30 years ago has a few remarks. i like to have our chief of protocol read something from senator feinstein. thank you. [applause] >> good morning. it is a beautiful day. thank you, mayor, for this. he is in charge of the weather and everything else.

31 years ago, i got a call. i was in the country with family drinking wine. i got a call from dianne feinstein, who was mayor at the time. she was always working. it was a saturday. she said, charlotte, i wanted to be chairman of fleet week. i asked what fleet week was. she said the great white fleet came in 1938 when roosevelt sent them here. i told her i was not there then. [laughter] she said it was serious. she said the ships come into the bay under the golden gate bridge. the airplanes fly over. they are sailors, marines, captains, animals, generals. -- admirals, generals. i said this was serious. we know that dianne feinstein

has been serious about fleet week as she has been involved for jobs leaving the city and the country. she has been supportive of fleet week over all of those years whether she be in office, a citizen, or in the united states and an -- senate. she is very unhappy she could not be here. she has sent this letter and asked me to read it to you. i am delighted to do so. dear friends, it gives me great pleasure to extend my warmest greetings to all of you who have gathered here for the 30th annual san francisco fleet week. when i helped to bring it back to san francisco, i knew that it would be something special, a fantastic showcase for the navy, marine corps, and coastguard in a city with a rich maritime and

naval history. since that time, fleet week has continued to honor the men and women in uniform as well as provide an opportunity to demonstrate their expertise in humanitarian assistance and disaster response. i would like to welcome the visiting ships from the american and canadian fleets, particularly the uss carl vinson. i hope you enjoy your time in san francisco. as a senator representing california, please accept my best wishes for an enjoyable fleet week. sincerely, diane feinstein, united states senator. [applause] i am sure that she would be so proud of this year and especially the leadership of the general and the mayor. thank you also much.

[applause] -- thank you all so much. [applause] >> representing all the military, we have the commander of the third fleet, vice admiral gerald beaman. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. the last few days have been very educational. we have learned a lot. i learned there is an insurance company that has very low rates in california. [laughter] i have to tell you it is an honor and pleasure to be representing the united states third fleet today. you will see some of our proud sailors and marines pass by in the not too distant future. i would like to think of you

people up front. senator nolan, this yacht club, the club manager and general operating officer for the club. i think they did a wonderful job for us. [applause] san francisco fleet week is a great opportunity for the navy and marine corps to display our wares. the young men and women serving our country can tell their stories and show you the things they live with every day. it is a wonderful thing for us to be able to do that. it is a heartwarming to be in the san francisco and bay area. there are many men and women representing the great services

appear this week. i think you will find as you talk with the sailors and marines that they are enthusiastic about their jobs. they are very proud of their job. the technology they are working with today these young sailors grew up with some sort of a gadget in their hands, as opposed to myself who still has no knowledge of how to work some of these games today. it does afford them the ability to be much smarter young marines and sailors and i first encountered a few years ago. i was 12 when i joined. i have been here 34 years. [laughter] the last few days, we had a senior leadership seminar. some of you took part in that.

some of you heard us speak last night. i have tried to save some of my lines from last night to today. we gathered community leaders, civic leaders, fire department, police department, the heads of individual departments. it is a tremendous opportunity for us to help and continue to train. the mayor said it himself. it is not a matter of if. it is a matter of when. we hope all will ever have to do is be prepared and not execute. our exchanges, the dialogue, the opportunity to exchange training will make us all a much better team. that'll be important when we all come together. i want to thank the city of san

francisco, the mayor, all of the leaders for their wonderful hospitality. i tell people that they open their arms and in some cases their homes to our sailors and marines. i have been in this business 34 years. i still get goose bumps when i walk on the ships and rub shoulders with the young men and women who represent our services. i think it has kept me young. i like to think that, anyway. they do it not for great amounts of pay. they do it for the love of their country. they hold their country above themselves. you will see a parade of 13 ships. i think the first one may be in 15 or 20 minutes. you will see your city-sponsored ship, the uss carl vinson.

you will see five ships from the united states navy, three ships from the coast guard, and four ships from canada, i believe. [laughter] i had a senior moment. i apologize. i said they keep me young, but i asked my age. i apologize for that. you will hear some loud noises as the ships come by. they are rendering a salute. in my mind, it is a salute to all of you for opening up your city to the navy, marine corps, and coast guard. thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you to our neighbor to the north. [applause] >> thank you. we appreciate that. now i will bring out our announcer, lt. galaman, who will

actually narrate the parade of ships for us. >> helena world do you follow that line of people. there's only one way to do that. we have a lieutenant and the coast guard, navy, and from the country of canada. we will begin to narrate this. we're so excited for the official start of today's festivities. there will be in rendering of honors with a 15-gun salute from the aircraft carrier to vice admiral brown.

[military salute] ♪