[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 3 (Thursday, January 27, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       CANADIAN VIETNAM VETERANS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, thousands of Canadians served in the U.S. 
military during the Vietnam war. On July 9, 1994, in Ottawa, the 
Canadian Vietnam Veterans Coalition will unveil the Canadian Vietnam 
Veterans National Memorial, dedicated to the brave men and women who 
lost their lives during the Vietnam war.
  The United States and Canada share a long history of friendship with 
one another. Throughout this period, Canadians and citizens of the 
United States have repeatedly shown their strong commitment to each 
other during times of war. Between the years 1958 and 1975, an 
estimated 40,000 Canadians joined the American Armed Forces, and many 
of them served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war.
  Many of the Canadians who served with U.S. troops in Vietnam had no 
obligation to do so. These veterans joined the U.S. forces because they 
believed, as good neighbors, it was the right thing to do. They were 
soldiers like Fidele J. Bastarache of Gardner, MA, who immigrated with 
his family from New Brunswick. He was an infantry sergeant, decorated 
four times for heroism, before he was killed in a mortar attack in 1968 
at the age of 22. Like many of his comrades, he gave his life 
protecting the freedom of others.
  This memorial will be a fitting tribute to the courageous young men 
and women who sacrificed their lives serving as members of the U.S. 
Armed Forces in Southeast Asia. I commend the Canadian Vietnam Veterans 
Coalition for its leadership in preparing this memorial.

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