[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S7053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GLEN GENSEAL AND SPRINGFIELD'S NEW KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, the community of Springfield, IL, 
recently dedicated a new Korean War Memorial which features, inscribed 
in stone, this poem, written by Glen Genseal in tribute to our fallen 
soldiers in Korea:


                           My Brave Young Men

                           (by Glen Genseal)

       I took a walk in the park of my old home town
       Hardly noticing anything that was around.

       Just this day, I don't know why,
       I looked at the cannon and stone war plaque when passing 
     by.

       There were name upon names written on the plaque
       Of brave young men who never came back.

       A certain guilty feeling came over me,
       I didn't know why, but I was soon to see.

       Off in the distance, I thought I heard
       Soldiers marching to cadence and time.
       I blinked my eyes, shook my head,
       Looked at the plaque,
       And here's what it said:

       Take a good look at my brave young men as they go marching 
     by,
       I want you to hear all their widows and mothers cry.

       I want you to touch each salty tear,
       And feel each heartache, that will never disappear.

       Look into the lost eyes of every wife, mother, and dad,
       Then gently squeeze the small hand of each fatherless child
       That war has left so sad.

       Oh my friend, never forget as you walk by,
       The sacrifice of my brave young men who had to die.

       Let it be known and always ever so plain,
       That my brave young men did not die in vain.

       America will always be the home of the brave,
       America will always be the land of the free.

       Because of the life of each young man
       Whose name, written in blood, is upon me.

       God bless America and my brave young men.

  Mr. President, Tracy Johnson, who has done a superb job for the 
people of Illinois and for me in my office in Springfield, is the 
daughter of Glen Genseal. She is proud of her father and of his 
contribution to this lasting and fitting memorial to those who served 
and died in Korea, and I am proud of them both.

                          ____________________