[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMMEMORATING THE END OF WORLD WAR II

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 11, 1995

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to participate in 
today's joint meeting of Congress to honor World War II veterans, their 
families, and those who served on the home front.
  In recent years Washington has witnessed the construction of a host 
of memorials: We have honored the veterans of the Vietnam war. We have 
honored the Korean war veterans. We have honored the Navy with an 
impressive memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue. It is proper that we 
honored those veterans for their sacrifices.
  But we have not properly honored the veterans of World War II with a 
permanent memorial here in the Nation's Capital. As a result, World War 
II veterans may feel they have not been sufficiently recognized. But 
that oversight will be corrected. We are finally preparing to construct 
a memorial to the veterans of World War II. I commend those who have 
pushed so hard to see this approved.
  Today's joint meeting is one in a series of events designed to 
commemorate the end of World War II and honor the contributions made by 
those who served in that effort. I wish to add my voice of 
appreciation.
  Without any doubt, World War II and its struggle against 
totalitarianism is the defining event of our time. It continues to 
reverberate 50 years later, overshadowing all of the events that have 
occurred since 1945. It will shape our history and our attitudes into 
the next century.
  I am impressed by the many ways World War II has shaped the world we 
live in today: The global struggle of the past half century--the cold 
war--was the direct result of World War II. Today, we still live in the 
ideological shadow of the cold war: the post-cold-war era.
  The great powers of today emerged victorious from World War II: Not 
just the United States, which became the world's most powerful Nation, 
with the strongest economy--but also France, Britain, and Russia. Other 
powers--Germany and Japan--emerged from the war's ashes of the war.
  World War II laid the groundwork for the longest economic boom in 
world history. It also ushered in the atomic age.
  The boundaries of Europe and Asia that were drawn in the aftermath of 
World War II remain, with few exceptions.
  Many of our political leaders during the last 50 years were tested in 
World War II, from Dwight Eisenhower to Jack Kennedy to George Bush.
  World War II also has affected our life in more subtle ways. A number 
of technological advances we take for granted today are the direct 
result of World War II: jet engines, penicillin, radar, synthetic 
rubber, even computers, just to name a few.
  World War II also had a profound impact on American society and 
culture. Our higher education system was radically altered by the 
millions of veterans who attended college on the GI bill. Women emerged 
as a power in their own right as a result of World War II, and have 
become a crucial force in our workplace. Our suburbs--now the dominant 
lifestyle in America--were first created for returning veterans. the 
baby boom generation that dominates much of American culture is the 
direct result of World War II.
  Today, as we remember the end of World War II, let us honor the 
sacrifices made by our World War II veterans. Let us guard the freedoms 
they fought to protect. And let us never forget that the political 
pluralism and economic prosperity that we see around the world are the 
legacy of World War II and those who fought and died in that war.

                          ____________________