[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 4, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2169]]



                         HONORING OUR VETERANS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 4, 1997

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today not to praise the men and women 
who have served our Nation's Armed Forces, nor enumerate the deeds and 
sacrifices they have made for this country. I stand today to offer my 
most sincere gratitude and thanks to these ordinary citizens who have 
been called to do extraordinary things. As Veterans Day nears, we must 
ask ourselves what meaning this day has for us all.
  This day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was conceived to honor 
those brave Americans who fought and died in the First World War. In 
1938, the Congress passed a law officially making November 11th a 
national holiday. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 years later in 
1954, would sign legislation stating, ``to honor Veterans on the 11th 
day of November each year . . . a day dedicated to world peace,'' 
formally recognizing this day as a time to honor those who have served 
this country.
  The 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, was the precise 
time which ended the First World War in 1918. That time marked the 
sacrifice of over 116,000 Americans who lost their lives on the 
battlefields of Northern France. This global war amassed more than 37 
million military casualties, in addition to 10 million deaths among the 
civilian population. Although the horrors of war had been demonstrated 
to the world, an ill conceived peace from the Versailles conference, 
provided the impetus for a repeat of this madness with even deadlier 
consequences.
  This day however, directly challenges those forces in the world that 
would break the fragile peace we now hold. And as each Veterans Day is 
celebrated, the fragility of that peace is strengthened and nurtured 
and allowed to grow; to grow with the hope that the flower it bears is 
not a poppy of sorrow, but rather a brilliant white rose celebrating 
peace.
  Mr. Speaker, this day causes us all to think and reflect on the 
reasons why so many of our young men and women have served in our Armed 
Forces. For me, that answer is simple, to ensure the peace and domestic 
tranquility of this country. Though these words ring within the 
Constitution, it is that cause and that sentiment which these dedicated 
men and women have sworn to uphold. It is for that reason why this 
Nation in its vigil to maintain the peace, has helped to ensure the 
peace for the world and for generations of Americans to come.
  War may glorify those human qualities which we hold high and dear but 
how much braver is the soldier standing on guard in 10 degree weather 
along the DMZ in Korea? How much more courageous is that maintenance 
personnel servicing vehicles in a lonely, isolated desert depot, or how 
dedicated is that medical assistant, routinely tending patients at the 
base health center, than their predecessors who served during wartime 
conditions. The sacrifices of our service members today cannot be 
divorced from those men and women who served in the past.
  It is this common thread which holds the very fabric of the peace 
which shrouds our democracy and our way of life. To forget these links 
is to weaken the purpose and meaning of this auspicious day. The bright 
torch of freedom has been handed from our combat veterans to our 
present day service members. That torch burns brightly as a beacon to 
the rest of the world that we as a Nation stand ready to defend our 
hard earned peace.
  No Nation can survive alone on the assurances of its technology or 
economic prowess. The willingness of our common citizenry to commit 
themselves to the causes of freedom and democracy are the assurances 
that have ensured the survival and existence of this country.
  And so I ask you, Mr. Speaker, and my fellow colleagues, to join with 
me in not just recognizing but thanking those who have served this 
Nation. Our gratitude for those servicemen and women of yesterday and 
today is immeasurable. My simple thanks, is the sincerest form I have, 
to offer a group of Americans whose service has yielded us the full 
fruits of freedom. God bless our veterans.

                          ____________________