[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    50TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD WAR II

  (Mrs. FOWLER asked and was given permission to extend her remarks at 
this point in the Record and to include extraneous matter.)
  Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, like many Americans, I have taken a great 
deal of interest in the events commemorating the 50th anniversary of 
World War II. Particularly fascinating to me have been the 
reminiscences of veterans and civilians who came through the great 
struggle and lived to tell the tale. Their stories illustrate both the 
huge scope of the conflict and the personal toll it exacted on 
individuals and families.
  More than 16 million Americans, including my father served in the 
U.S. Armed Forces during the war. Of those, more than 400,000 lost 
their lives, and thousands more were grievously injured. Others were 
separated from their families for years, fighting in far-off lands or 
holding on to the hope in dreary POW camps.
  In peacetime, it is all too easy to forget the courage and commitment 
of these Americans, and the heavy price they paid for our freedom. It 
is also easy to take for granted the important work our men and women 
in uniform still do every day.
  This commemoration has served as an important reminder of these 
things. One of the greatest tributes our Nation can pay to those who 
gave so much is to maintain a strong national defense--both to protect 
what they bought at such a great cost, and to ensure that no lives are 
lost in the future because we were caught unprepared.
  Albert Pike once said that what we do for ourselves dies with us, but 
what we do for others remain and is immortal. As this commemoration 
ends, let us all remember the immortal contributions of those who 
offered up everything they had so that we might live in the sunshine of 
freedom. And let us renew our commitment to maintain that precious gift 
so that their sacrifice will not have been in vain.

                          ____________________