[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 U.S. MARINES, ANYTHING BUT EXTREMISTS

  (Mr. GILCHREST asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.).
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to take a minute to 
address the House on the words of Sara Lister, the top personnel 
officer at the Pentagon for the U.S. Army, in her remarks about naming 
Marines as ``extremists.''
  What I would like to say is that I am a former Marine. I enlisted 
when I was 18 years old because I wanted to see the world. The people 
that I met throughout the 4 years I served in the Marine Corps in the 
middle 1960's were anything but extremists. For the most part, they 
were gentle, young kids, who wanted to find adventure, wanted to serve 
their country, wanted to do something. They were curious about the 
world.
  As they went through their service in the Marine Corps, they raised 
money for toys for poor children. In combat, they put their life at 
risk delivering babies. They found lepers in the jungles, and they 
dealt with the strange disease.
  Mr. Speaker, the Marine Corps is made up of individuals who are like 
every average American.




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