[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 60 (Monday, May 16, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 16, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  TRIBUTE TO AMERICA'S FIGHTING FORCES

                                 ______


                        HON. HERBERT H. BATEMAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 16, 1994

  Mr. BATEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues in the House of Representatives an article recently 
published in the Newport News Daily Press by Gen. Frederick M. Franks, 
Jr., commander in chief, U.S. army training and doctrine command. 
General Franks has written what I believe to be a truly moving 
testament to the quality of our men and women who serve in the Armed 
Forces and the way in which they unfailingly attain new heights in 
courage and dedication at times of greatest adversity. From the forests 
of the Ardennes to the mountains of Korea, from the jungles of Vietnam 
to the deserts of Iraq and Somalia, America's fighting men have 
continuously proven their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their 
fellow soldiers and for their country. Perhaps nowhere is this spirit 
of sacrifice and dedication more prevalent than among those who return 
from the battlefield permanently disabled, and Frederick Franks belongs 
in the group, having lost a leg in Vietnam. It is that category of 
veteran and military retiree that is the focus of General Franks' 
article and I highly recommend my colleagues read it.

              Heroes on the Battlefield or the Ski Slopes

                      (By Frederick M. Franks Jr.)

       We do not have to look up heroes in history books. They are 
     all around us every day. American heroes. They are Americans 
     from all across America who look like America. They are 
     soldiers and their families. They are volunteers--reaching 
     out to serve when needed with a hand to help and a heart to 
     care.
       I recently went to Fort Bragg, N.C., to visit with fellow 
     soldiers injured in the tragic accident March 23 at Pope Air 
     Force Base. President Clinton, Secretary of the Army Togo 
     West and Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Gordon Sullivan had 
     all previously visited our soldiers.
       Lt. Gen. Hugh Shelton, XVIII Airborne Corps commander, took 
     me for a brief visit to the accident site before going to the 
     hospital. It was a battlefield scene. And as I listened to 
     accounts of the accident I visualized all the battlefield 
     behavior I have seen of American soldiers in combat: soldiers 
     helping each other--medics, volunteers and leaders moving 
     swiftly to the scene.
       I have seen combat and I have been among heroism on the 
     battlefield in two wars in Vietnam and Iraq. I also have seen 
     brave soldier-heroes in hospitals from Vietnam to Valley 
     Forge and Saudi Arabia to Walter Reed. Now there, listening, 
     I saw it all again--American soldiers rising to a moment that 
     they did not choose.
       Later visiting with injured soldiers in the hospital, I was 
     struck with their courage and selflessness. They asked about 
     their fellow soldiers. They talked about getting back to 
     duty. They talked about those who had died or others hurt 
     worse than they. They talked about anything but themselves.
       They were hurt and down but already on the way back. They 
     were inspiring to be with. They are your soldiers--America's 
     Army. They are sons and daughters, husbands and wives, 
     brothers and sisters. American soldiers.
       That same day I went to Crested Butte, Colo., for the 
     opening ceremonies of the National Disabled Veterans Winter 
     Sports Clinic. This is a week sponsored by the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) 
     with significant corporate assistance.
       It was started by Sandy Trombetta, clinic organizer and 
     director, eight years ago when he reached out to a disabled 
     veteran and began a dream. This year his dream included more 
     than 240 veterans who were amputees, visually impaired or had 
     spinal cord injuries. They assembled at Crested Butte to 
     receive rehabilitation through skiing, snowmobiling, swimming 
     and other vigorous sports. Two veterans were from our VA 
     Hospital in Hampton and two soldier-amputees were from 
     actions last fall in Somalia.
       But there was more there than athletics. There were 
     Americans reaching out to each other: veterans, volunteers 
     from Crested Butte and across America, craftsmen configuring 
     prosthetic ski devices on-the-spot out of the back of a 
     truck, doctors, prosthetists, Sandy Trombetta, and Bruce 
     Nitsche and Art Wilson from the National Headquarters of the 
     DAV pulling it all together. Americans from our wars and 
     other operations were there: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, 
     Desert Storm and Somalia. These are American veterans who get 
     a reminder every day as they get in their wheelchair, strap 
     on their prosthesis, or reach for their cane--it never goes 
     away.
       Who are they? They are the same Americans I saw at Fort 
     Bragg and other places in the past who did what their country 
     asked. And they are supported by other Americans who did not 
     go away and who did not forget, Americans who long after the 
     battles remain, remember and then continue their commitment 
     of reaching out to help veterans help themselves. 
     Communication without words. All of it--selfless service.
       After speaking by phone to Maj. Gen. Mike Steele, 82d 
     Airborne Division commander, who had just finished visiting 
     his soldiers at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, I 
     went to Brooke Army Hospital on my way back from Colorado and 
     was permitted to visit the wards with most of the very 
     seriously burned soldiers from Fort Bragg. I was escorted by 
     Col. (Dr.) Basil A. Pruitt, commander and director of the 
     U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (U.S. Army Burn 
     Center), and Brig. Gen. Mike Canavan, assistant division 
     commander of the 82d Airborne Division. I was met there by 
     Col. Elizabeth Greenfield, chief nurse.
       I also was able to talk with some soldier-families in a 
     splendid family assistance center staffed mostly with 
     volunteers and set up at Fort Sam Houston. I have seen heroic 
     actions on the battlefield and I have personally felt the 
     pain of combat as well as the physical and emotional battles 
     on the long road back. But I was not ready for the heroism I 
     saw again in Texas.
       Every soldier I visited who could talk said to me either 
     ``hooah,'' ``airborne'' or ``all the way.'' Now that is 
     soldier talk for a lot of things, but mainly it is about 
     soldiers fighting through enormous pain and grabbing onto the 
     verbal symbols of the toughness and commitment to each other 
     that bind them together and make them so great in service to 
     America. They are the best of America. They are the best we 
     have. Selfless and courageous.
       I spoke to each soldier, but more communication passed 
     between us than words. They said more to me about courage, 
     selfless service and trust than I could ever describe.
       They are American soldiers, being cared for by other 
     soldiers and airmen and soldier-doctors--the best caring for 
     the best. Reaching out to each other, they are the strength 
     of America. They trust each other. There is something noble, 
     good and right about such American soldiers. I was honored to 
     be in their presence.
       ``Don't worry, general, we trust you,'' a soldier in VII 
     Corps' 3d Armored Division said to me before we attacked into 
     Iraq in 1991. U.S. Army Rangers in Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993, 
     reached back for their fellow soldiers and fought all night 
     protecting each other. And in each of these visits I heard it 
     again, ``I'll be OK. How's so and so? I'm not as bad as. . . 
     . I'll be back jumping in no time. Hooah; airborne.'' And 
     earlier, ``I'd do it again even though I lost an arm and a 
     leg if none of my soldiers were hurt.''
       Heroes. All around us. They are not from some other planet 
     or strangers from a history book.
       Where do they come from? How do we get such people?
       They come from America and they are us. They reach out to 
     each other and reach out to serve a cause greater than 
     themselves. They were hurt badly but were thinking of what 
     they had--not what they did not have--and what to make of 
     that.
       I count myself lucky to be among such Americans, to walk in 
     their ranks, to both serve them and be entrusted to lead 
     them. Look around you and find the best in America. It's all 
     around us every day. We notice it during tough times. It was 
     especially all around me on these three powerful days.
       Please include a prayer for these heroic Americans still in 
     hospitals or recovering, and for their families and the 
     families of those who died.

                          ____________________