[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 123 (Thursday, July 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10794-S10795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL

  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, like many others, I had the privilege this 
afternoon to go down to the mall for the dedication of the Korean War 
Memorial, and it was an extremely impressive ceremony.
  I urge any who might have the opportunity to visit that memorial to 
seize upon that opportunity. There are a series of figures, 19 in all, 
I believe, in a very haunting memory of what took place in Korea. Each 
of the figures has a poncho, while they are soldiers, marines advancing 
in a loose formation, and I think the way the figures are designed it 
gives an impression of the climate of Korea, the arduousness of the 
climate. It brings back memories of the very coldness that was in Korea 
in the winter, and in the summer the extreme heat that took place 
there.
  It was my privilege to serve in Korea in the summer of 1951, the fall 
of 1951, the winter of 1951 and 1952, and during that time I had the 
opportunity to serve as a rifle company commander in the Marines in D 
Company of the 7th Regiment of the 1st Marine Division. We were 
defending the steep hills in the eastern section of Korea.
  What are some of the memories that I have of those days? First, Mr. 
President, what comes to memory is the extreme competence of the young 
marines with whom I was serving. I guess I was old compared to them; I 
was 27 at the time, and these young enlisted men, most of them were 19 
or 20 years old. But what struck me was not only their ability to 
endure extreme hardships, whether the hardships of the march or the 
hardships coming with the dangers that were involved, or the hardships 
of the coldness and the heat that I just described, but also the 
competence that they displayed.
  When you said to a young group of six Marines, the oldest being 20 
years old, that they were to take a patrol down in front of our lines, 
go deep down, cross the river, go up on the other side and scout out 
the enemy territory, they listened carefully, and absorbed their 
instructions to carry them out without a phrase of objection or 
reticence or fear. And all of that reflected I think not only on their 
background but the wonderful training they had received from the Marine 
Corps and the competence that each of them had.
  As we dedicated that memorial today, one asked oneself: What is being 
achieved here? It seems to me we all have to remember that those who 
died were young and they had no wives; they had no children; they had 
nobody to remember them. And so we look on the memorial as a way of 
remembering those who did not have the benefit of their own families to 
remember them. So we are all their families. That is the way we recall 
those who served there.
  I think one of the points that came from the talks today struck home 
with me, both from President Kim of Korea and President Clinton. They 
stressed that what took place in Korea was that for the first time in 
the postwar years the surge of communism was stopped and a line was 
drawn. The President of Korea said that this was the start of the 
falling of the Berlin Wall. Sure, that came many years after, but this 
was what started it all.
 So it made it all seem very, very worthwhile.

  So, Mr. President, I urge all who do have an opportunity to avail 
themselves of the opportunity to visit that memorial. There is an 
eeriness to it, but I think that is correct. I think it will bring back 
for those who have been to Korea many memories, and for those who have 
not, it will bring to their attention the fact that more people lost 
their lives in Korea in those short 3 years, than did in the entire 
Vietnam war, which lasted some 10 years. And I think it is so fitting 
that at last we do have a memorial for that war.
  Mr. REID addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Before the Senator from Rhode Island leaves the floor, I 
would like to say a few words. I was just passing through the Chamber 
when I heard the distinguished Senator from Rhode Island speaking.
  I had on my schedule to go to the ceremony today, but there was a 
full Appropriations Committee markup of two bills, so I was unable to 
do that. But I think it would be wrong if I did not say something about 
my feelings toward the Senator from Rhode Island based upon his 
experiences as a marine in both the Second World War and, of course, 
the Korean war.
  I have expressed briefly to the Senator on another occasion the 
experience I had of reading a book. I was Lieutenant Governor of 
Nevada, and during the time that I was Lieutenant Governor, the 
Governor of Nevada, Mike O'Callaghan, was a Korean war veteran who lost 
a leg and was severely wounded in other ways. Governor O'Callaghan was 
also my high school government teacher. So, I had a tremendous 
curiosity about that war. And I saw a book review of a book on the 
Korean war called ``The Coldest War.'' It was the first real definitive 
work on the Korean war, written by James Brady, a reporter for Newsweek 
magazine, who was also a marine in Korea. It was a wonderful book 
talking about the coldest war.
  The hero of the book was John Chafee, a captain in the Marine Corps 
during the Korean conflict. And James Brady, who still writes for 
Newsweek, could not cover his respect and admiration for his superior 
in that war, John Chafee. And I would recommend to all the Members of 
the Senate to read that book about the Korean war.
  It is important that there has been attention focused on this 
conflict as a result of our dedicating that memorial today. It is a war 
that a lot of us do not understand what a difficult war it was. In 
Korea, 1 out of every 9 men that went to Korea lost their lives; in the 
Second World War, 1 out of 12; the Vietnam conflict, 1 out of 19. It 
was a place where, if you pick a place not to have a war, you would go 
to Korea where they fought the war. It was these very big mountains, 
coldest weather you can imagine.
  So, I say to my friend from Rhode Island that, on behalf of the U.S. 
Senate and the people of America, I extend my appreciation to you. You 
are what is good represented in this country. You have dedicated your 
life to public service. You have dedicated your life on two occasions 
to serving your country in uniform. And you did it very valiantly, for 
which I am and the rest of the American public are grateful.
  Mr. CHAFEE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I want to thank the distinguished Senator 
from Nevada for his very generous comments. I appreciate those. I would 
say that it was very nice of Jim Brady to say the things he did about 
me in his book. But, as in all circumstances, there are plenty there 
who did a lot more than I did.
  So, again, I thank my good friend from Nevada, whom we are very 
privileged to have on the Environment and Public Works Committee. It is 
an interesting book. It does portray, I think, so well the harshness of 
the climate, which the Senator from Nevada just talked about. And that 
was brought home in statues that are there of these figures. These 
figures are not marching smartly forward. They are covered with their 
ponchos. They are trudging with their heads down. I was there today 
looking at it. And if there is one thing I must have said 1,000 times--
when you have these units, you say to them constantly, ``Don't bunch 
up. Don't bunch up.'' There is something about marines when they are 
marching. They want to get together. And of course, that increases the 
chances of more people being injured when mortars and artillery come 
along. So you try to keep them spread out. And I could see myself 
saying to these groups, ``Don't bunch up.'' I will say this, the 
figures were apart. But I could just hear myself saying, ``Spread out. 
Spread out.'' So they are fairly 

[[Page S 10795]]
well spread out. It is a very moving memorial. Again, I urge everybody 
to go down and take a look at it when they can.
  I thank Senator Reid for his kind comments.
  Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, while my friend from Rhode Island is on the 
floor, I, too, was stuck here and could not get to the dedication of 
the memorial this afternoon. I felt terrible not being able to be there 
because I really had planned to be there and wanted to be there. One of 
the reasons I wanted to be there was because of our colleagues who 
fought, for whom I have such enduring respect. And as that memorial 
reminds each of us of the sacrifices of those who fought in Korea, we 
also have to count our blessings for those who survived Korea. And one 
of those blessings is John Chafee.
  Mr. CHAFEE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Well, Mr. President, I did not start this. I did not 
start this this afternoon, for this particular reason. But I do want to 
thank the distinguished Senator from Michigan for his very, very kind 
comments. And I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. President.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thomas). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
allowed to speak for 15 minutes as if in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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