[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            MEMORIAL DAY 1995

                                 ______


                      HON. G.V. (SONNY) MONTGOMERY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 1995
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, 1995, an extension of remarks 
that appeared in the Congressional Record on page E980 was accidently 
attributed to my dear colleague, Bob Stump. I regret this confusion and 
here follows the correct text of my Memorial Day message for 1995.
                           Memorial Day 1995
       Sacrifice. It's a word we all know. All of us have made 
     some sacrifices in our lives. We make sacrifices for our 
     family, for our close friends, even for our neighbors and 
     coworkers. Persons in the Armed Forces make many sacrifices, 
     and over one million Americans have given their lives, the 
     ultimate sacrifice, while serving in our Nation's armed 
     forces. Throughout history, members of the Armed Forces have 
     risked their lives not merely for their family or their 
     coworkers, but for a cause represented by the American flag, 
     and the freedom to choose and the liberty to succeed which it 
     embodies.
       Some Americans are too young to remember; others have too 
     quickly forgotten. How important, therefore, that we honor 
     our veterans, that we learn from them, and that we teach 
     others about history, about war, about sacrifice. We are 
     still reminded about Korea, Vietnam, and more recent 
     encounters. We should not, however, allow the memory, the 
     lessons, and the sacrifices of our terrible world wars to 
     fade. Proud veterans of those wars are among us today. Their 
     presence bears witness to sacrifice.
       Fifty years ago this month, our Nation was beginning to 
     absorb the meaning of victory in Europe, to realize what the 
     final tally was in terms of lives lost or shattered as the 
     result of the awful conflict in Europe and North Africa. In 
     April of 1945, President Roosevelt had died of a cerebral 
     hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia. The battle in the 
     Pacific still raged as scientists neared completion of the 
     first atomic bomb. The sacrifices would continue for four 
     more months, and then the bloodiest of all wars would be 
     over.
       Veterans of World War I saw staggering losses in bitter 
     trench warfare and history's first use of such horrible 
     tactics as gas warfare. Fewer than 20,000 veterans of that 
     brutal conflict are still alive today.
       Cemeteries in two small towns in northwest Maryland contain 
     the dead from the battle of Antietam, where more casualties 
     occurred in a single day than on any other day of the Civil 
     War.
       The United States and the world learned of the awful toll 
     of war when two of Mathew Brady's assistants photographed the 
     dead of Antietam. The pictures brought home the shocking toll 
     of war and its accompanying sacrifice when they were first 
     displayed in 1862, and they are no less shocking today. It is 
     fitting that each Memorial Day, the 2,100 graves of the Union 
     dead are decorated with small American flags, a scene which 
     stirs the conscience, but which only hints at the sacrifices 
     which took place on the day of the battle. In a nearby 
     cemetery, there are no decorations for the graves of 2,400 
     Confederate soldiers. We hope that these graves will be 
     decorated on Memorial Day.
       Battlefields and cemeteries remind us of the terrible 
     sacrifices and loss of life in war. But many of us or our 
     family members remember all too directly the experience of 
     war. The first half of this century saw two world wars. These 
     were the ``wars to end all wars''. How wrong we were to think 
     the experience of war was behind us! Consider Korea. Vietnam. 
     Lebanon. Grenada. Panama. The Persian Gulf. Somalia. Haiti. 
     We have asked much of our fighting men and women.
       Although many members of our Armed Forces are buried on 
     foreign soils, there are cemeteries throughout this country 
     which contain the remains of the very best that America had 
     to offer. Remembering is what Memorial Day is for, and what 
     gives it meaning is how each one of us remembers the great 
     sacrifices which have made possible the blessings we share as 
     Americans today.