[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           ON NORMANDY BEACH

                                 ______


                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 1994

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month our Nation took time to 
honor the memory of those brave Americans who fought for freedom 50 
years ago on the beaches of Normandy.
  As part of that tribute, the Honorable John O. Marsh, Jr., a former 
colleague in the House and the longest serving Secretary of the Army in 
the Nation's history, commemorated the D-day landing at the Omaha 
Sector, Normandy Beach, in France on June 6, 1944, by Company C, 116th 
Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, of the Virginia-Maryland National 
Guard.
  I would like to share his eloquent remarks presented at a ceremony at 
Veterans Memorial Stadium in Harrisonburg, VA, on June 5 with my 
colleagues:

To Commemorate the Landing at the ``Omaha Sector,'' Normandy Beach June 
6, 1944, by Company C, 116th Infantry Regiment 29th Division, Virginia-
                        Maryland National Guard

                        (By John O. Marsh, Jr.)


                               background

       Harrisonburg has been the home of Company C, 116th Infantry 
     Regiment, Virginia National Guard, a Regiment of the famous 
     Virginia-Maryland 29th Division Army National Guard for many 
     years. The Division was organized in WWI and fought in 
     France. It was the only National Guard Division that took 
     part in the Normandy invasion.
       It should be noted that by the time of D-Day the ranks of 
     the Division had been significantly augmented by draftees and 
     others, whereby in the 29th there were soldiers from every 
     state in the Union. However, the Division continued to have a 
     significant number of original members so that at its core, 
     it was still a National Guard Division with many of these 
     Guard soldiers holding leadership posts both as commissioned 
     and non-commissioned officers.
       The 116th Infantry Regiment traces its military heritage to 
     units organized in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia before 
     the Colonial Wars. It participated in numerous campaigns of 
     the French and Indian War under the command of then Col. 
     George Washington, the American Revolution, and the War of 
     1812. It was commanded by Stonewall Jackson in the War 
     Between the States (Civil War) and earned 18 Streamers from 
     Bull Run to Appomattox.
       This Regiment, often referred to as the Stonewall Brigade, 
     was in the first wave at Normandy Beach at the sector that 
     has become famous as ``Bloody Omaha.'' So named because of 
     the fierce resistance encountered, and the enormous 
     casualties suffered by U.S. forces before gaining a lodgement 
     on the coast of France.
       By the end of July 1944, the 116th, whose strength on D-Day 
     of just over 3,200 men and officers had sustained 3,400 
     casualties. When VE-Day came in May, the casualties were over 
     7,000.
       For all of those soldiers of Company C and the 116th 
     Infantry Regiment, as well as all who served there, these 
     remarks are a tribute from one who was later a pilgrim to the 
     place where they so valiantly fought, were wounded--died--but 
     prevailed.


                           on normandy beach

       Normandy Beach is its own memorial.
       There is a stillness about a battlefield where great causes 
     were fought and decided. President Lincoln spoke of it at 
     Gettysburg--and called it ``Hallowed Ground.''
       Those who fought at Normandy and lived; they shall age. Yet 
     the agelessness of those who died there is a Spirit you can 
     sense as you walk along the beach. It carries you back to the 
     days when you were young.
       Today on this hallowed ground stillness and tranquillity 
     prevail in marked contrast to the sounds and chaos of battle. 
     An attitude of reverence comes naturally. We talk in quieter 
     tones--we move less swiftly--a tribute beneficiaries give--
     even when only dimly aware of causes decided by others--but 
     knowing some debt for their resolution is still owing.
       For mile after mile along this stretch of French coast 
     named Normandy a terrible price was paid by those who waded 
     with a rising tide from the English Channel to gain a 
     foothold on the Continent--and by those who made their 
     assault from French skies and landed in nearby fields in 
     darkness before dawn.
       Monuments along the shore stand not just as a tribute to 
     their deeds to be remembered, but a memory to youth that 
     never grew old.
       The are placed here on the coast of France, in the Province 
     of Normandy, to vouchsafe our Country's commitment to a great 
     cause.
       America sought no empire, nor the lands of others--save but 
     a place of ground near the beaches where they fell--and there 
     to bury her dead. Where like Flanders fields--they are 
     Freedom's silent requiem.
       In Victory we unleashed no vengeance upon our foe. Rather 
     we helped rebuild a ravaged land.
       The monuments of D-Day stand both as a pledge to the Values 
     of our past, and to our Hope for the future.
       Hope for a world that is at peace--a world guided by 
     truth--a world that is free.
       This pledge of Values and Hope--our Country, and all its 
     forces of land, air, and sea, shall defend.
       When this anniversary day is past, and those who pilgrimed 
     here have gone, and tides ebb and flow----
       When the sounds of the Channel are the only sounds in a 
     place of beauty and loneliness----
       When the cry of the gulls and the winds across the sands of 
     Normandy break the stillness of a battleground----
       Then the waves that wash gently on the beaches of France--
     will in rhythmic cadence be--forever, a lasting tribute to 
     what my Countrymen did here.

                          ____________________