[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 37 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E530-E531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  KEEPING ALIVE THE HONOR OF MILITARY SERVICE: CONFEDERATE AIR FORCE 
                            DESERT SQUADRON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LARRY COMBEST

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 20, 1997

  Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, in the history of this great Nation, when 
threatened by foreign powers, the people of the United States rally, we 
fight and we win. However, once we have secured the blessings of 
liberty--or

[[Page E531]]

when they are secured for us by previous generations--we are in danger 
of forgetting to remain vigilant against those very threats to our 
liberty. Often, when blessed with peace, memories fade. Sometimes 
forgotten are those who sacrifice to fight against the tyranny of 
oppression.
  In Odessa, TX, the Desert Squadron of the Confederate Air Force takes 
to the air in the surviving military aircraft that helped win the peace 
in World War II. They fly in honor of those who piloted those aircraft, 
and in honor of those who were supported by the mighty American air 
cover. The fact that these aging aircraft can fly at all is at the 
heart of the mission and the message of the Confederate Air Force 
Desert Squadron: preparedness and vigilance.
  For our military veterans, our men and women in uniform today, and 
the generations who will be entrusted to keep our country strong, 
keeping these aircraft flying becomes a lesson in history and a means 
of teaching strength, preparedness, and vigilance in the name of 
liberty.

                          ____________________