[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 165 (Tuesday, October 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2007-E2008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING AMERICA'S VETERANS

                                 ______


                            HON. BILL BAKER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 24, 1995

  Mr. BAKER of California. Mr. Speaker, as we prepare to honor the 
sacrifices of America's veterans on November 11, I want to draw the 
attention of my colleagues to the words of a poem sent me by one of my 
constituents, Peter Whitney of Walnut Creek, CA.
  John DiRusso served with Peter in the Second World War. They were 
among the tens of thousands of young Americans who, in the words of the 
late journalist Theodore H. White, ``saved the world.'' The words of 
this poem remind us of the heroism that was so common it came to be 
taken for granted. Yet we should never take for granted what so many 
brave men and women did to preserve our liberty.
  It is a pleasure for me to include John DiRusso's poem, ``Please 
Remember Me,'' in the Congressional Record. We do remember America's 
veterans. To forget them would be to ignore our very freedom, something 
we must never do as long as our Republic lasts.

                           Please Remember Me

                           (By John DiRusso)

     Remember me, America, for I was once your son
     I fought and died at Valley Forge with General Washington.

     I was there at Gettysburg on that tragic, tragic day
     When brother fought against brother--the blue against the 
           gray.

     I rode with Teddy Roosevelt on the charge up San Juan Hill
     Some came back to fight again--but I just lie there still.

     I went to France with A.E.F. to bring the peace to you
     I was twenty-one and full of fun--I never saw twenty-two.

     I'm still here at Pearl Harbor since that Decenber seventh 
           day of infamy
     Lying silently with my shipmates on the U.S.S. Arizona at the 
           bottom of the sea.

     D-Day June 6TH 1994, we hit the beaches of Normandy
     And we fought uphill every inch of the way
     We routed the Germans and hurled them back but what a 
           terrible price we had to pay.


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     I served on a U.S. submarine, the bravest of the brave
     Until a German depth charge gave us a watery grave.

     I bombed the Ploesti oil fileds, they blew with one big roar
     But in the attack we were hit with flack--I'll never bomb 
           anymore.

     In Korea I heard the C.O. shout ``we'll make it--I'm sure we 
           will''
     I lost my life to try and take a spot called Pork Chop Hill.

     Vietnam! Vietnam! When will we ever learn
     I'm one of sixty thousand who never will return.

     I left my town, my wife, my kids, my home so cozy and warm
     I was killed in a SCUD attack in a war called--Desert Storm!

     And so in my eternity my thoughts are all for thee
     I'll never forget my America--I pray she remembers me.

                          ____________________