[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 88 (Thursday, May 25, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1120-E1121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      IN OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY

                                 ______


                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 24, 1995
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in advance of Memorial Day, to 
remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense 
of this great Nation and the ideals for which it stands. It is fitting 
that before we Americans celebrate the arrival of summer, we set aside 
a special day in honor of all those brave and selfless individuals who 
have died to defend our freedom and security. Each of the patriots whom 
we remember on Memorial Day was first a beloved son or daughter, 
sibling, spouse and friend. Each had hopes and dreams not unlike our 
own.

[[Page E1121]]

  The loss of these Americans--indeed, the loss of any life to war--
fills us with sorrow and strengthens our resolve to work for peace. Yet 
it would be a great injustice to our fallen service members to observe 
this day solely as one of mourning. On this Memorial Day, our hearts 
should swell with thankfulness and pride as we reflect on our Nation's 
heritage of liberty.
  Gen. James A. Garfield was the main speaker at the first national 
Memorial Day on May 30, 1868 at the National Cemetery in Arlington. He 
best expressed the utmost respect and reverence we as a nation should 
have for those who lost their lives in defense of our country, and its 
ideals.

       I am oppressed with a sense of impropriety of uttering 
     words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be 
     here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men whose lives 
     were more significant than speech and whose death was a poem 
     the music of which can never be sung. With words we make 
     promises, plight faith, praise virtue. Promises may not be 
     kept; plighted faith may be broken; and vaunted virtue be 
     only the cunning mask of vice. We do not know one promise 
     these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; 
     but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme 
     act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of 
     country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, 
     and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.

  I, too, have no illusions about what little I can add to the silent 
testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. 
Yet, we must honor them--not for their sakes alone, but for our own. 
And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men and women, surely 
with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the 
vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.
  As one looks out across the rows upon rows of white crosses and Stars 
of David in military cemeteries in our country and across the world, 
the willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live 
never fails to evoke in me a sense of
 wonder and gratitude. They span several generations of Americans, all 
different and yet all alike, like the markers above their resting 
places.

  And how they must have wished, in all the ugliness that war brings, 
that no other generation of young men would have to undergo that same 
experience. At this time each year we should instill in every 
generation, now and yet to come, a deep appreciation and full 
understanding of the meaning of why they died. The sacrifices we 
remember on Memorial Day must be made meaningful to every new 
generation of Americans, so that those sacrifices shall not have been 
made in vain.
  The passage of years has dimmed the memories of many who have 
witnessed the destruction and tragedy of war, but we need only look at 
the ``reminders'' of the price of freedom paid in places such as 
Gettysburg, Omaha Beach, Normandy, and ``Hamburger Hill.'' Each is a 
name that invokes memories of patriotism and valor. Each reminds us 
that our Nation was founded on the belief that our democratic ideals 
are worth fighting for and, if necessary, worth dying for. We have a 
sacred obligation to remember for all time the names and the deeds of 
the Americans who paid that price for our freedom. Memorial Day has now 
become an occasion for honoring all those who died protecting that 
freedom. One reminder, engraved in the stone memorial at the Omaha 
Beach Cemetery, eloquently states, ``To these we owe our highest 
resolve, that the cause for which they died shall live.''
  Mr. Speaker, Memorial Day is a day to honor Americans who gave their 
lives for their country. It is their deaths, not the wars which claimed 
them, that we honor today. This day is our way of keeping alive the 
spirits and accomplishments of those who made the ultimate sacrifice 
for their country. It is a time of reflection, it is a time of honor, 
it is a time of renewal. Today, and every day, we must remember what 
was sacrificed for the many freedoms we enjoy today. We must honor 
those who made that sacrifice for us. And we must renew our commitment 
to the ideals which their sacrifices preserved, always with the hope 
that future generations of Americans will never need to make those same 
sacrifices.


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