[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO CHARLES COOK

  (Mr. BARR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, 54 years ago, in 1942, the security of liberty 
was not as certain as it is today. The flame of freedom was in danger 
of being completely snuffed out by those who sought to enslave the 
world.
  Thankfully, freedom was preserved for us by a generation of patriotic 
benefactors who left the safety of their homes and traveled thousands 
of miles to rid the world of the despots who started World War II.
  One of those patriots was Charles Cook. Cookie, as his friends knew 
him, passed away earlier this month, a half century after he was freed 
from a Japanese POW camp. You see, Charles Cook was a survivor of the 
infamous 1942 Bataan death march. Those who survived the Bataan death 
march and remained prisoners of the Japanese imperial army suffered 
more than most people living today could even imagine. But Charles Cook 
did not suffer in vain. He gave us a priceless legacy. Along with 
others of that great generation, he left the legacy of freedom for 
America and the rest of the world. It is for us now to preserve that 
gift.
  We must recognize our inherited obligation, and be zealous custodians 
of Charles Cook's gift of liberty, which he purchased so dearly.

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