[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 83 (Friday, June 7, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING OUR VETERANS

                                 ______


                           HON. BILL EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 1996

  Mr. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted today to take the floor of 
this great body in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of VFW Post 
5896 in Farmington, MO. Few things give me greater pleasure than to 
offer my thanks and appreciation to those who have placed their lives 
on the line for this Nation, and I am very proud of my constituents who 
have served so bravely.
  Every veteran is a source of strength and pride for our country. The 
courageous men and women who fought our Nation's battles secured the 
principles upon which this great Nation was built. Millions of people 
around the world enjoy the blessings of freedom, peace, and 
representative government because of our veterans who were willing to 
risk their lives for them.
  Mr. Speaker, VFW Post 5896 has, for the last 50 years, been an 
organization that inspires and strengthens the people of southeastern 
Missouri. The members of that organization have not only been great 
warriors, they have been great citizens. They have shown us that not 
only are the principles of democracy and freedom worth fighting for, 
they are worth living out. Each and every day--in our local 
communities, churches, families--these veterans are the pillars and 
foundation of our society. America is deeply indebted to them--not only 
for the wars that they have fought, but for the lives that they have 
lived. They continue to teach us, each and every day, what it means to 
be an American.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with much pride and a grateful heart that I say 
``Happy 50th Birthday'' to VFW Post 5896. They are surely Missouri's--
and America's--finest.

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