Kerry tells Yale grads about Yolanda aid

WASHINGTON – The United States rushed aid to Tacloban, the area hardest hit by Typhoon Yolanda last year, without being asked and without asking for anything in return, US Secretary of State John Kerry told graduates of the Yale Class of 2014 at a commencement ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut on Sunday.

He said the US military and US Agency for International Development went there before countries that lived a lot closer.

“We went there without being asked and without asking for anything in return. And today, Americans are helping to bring that community back to life,” Kerry said.

He told students their education “calls on you to give back, in whatever way you can. It requires you to serve the world around you and, yes, to make a difference. That is what has always set America apart: our generosity, our humanity, our idealism,” he said.

“I can tell you for certain, most of the rest of the world doesn’t lie awake at night worrying about America’s presence – they worry about what would happen in our absence.”

Kerry said what makes America different from other nations was not a common bloodline, religion, ideology or heritage.

“What makes us different is that we are united by an uncommon idea: that we’re all created equal and all endowed with unalienable rights. America is not just a country like other countries. America is an idea and we – all of us, you – get to fill it out over time,” he said.