[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1054-S1055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REMARKS BY GENERAL DONALD S. DAWSON CELEBRATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF 
                    THE RESERVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, the United States Army Reserve is 
celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, and for almost the past 
century, this force has repeatedly made important and significant 
contributions to the defense of the Nation, both in times of peace and 
war. The men and women who comprise the citizen-soldiers of the Army 
Reserve, and all our reserve forces, can take great pride in the 
tradition of service and excellence they have established from the 
wooded battlefields of World War II to the sands of the Persian Gulf.
  One organization that has worked tireless to promote not only the 
Reserve forces of all the services, but the security of the United 
States is the Reserve Officers Association. Located just across the 
street from the United States Capitol, this association has been one of 
the leading advocates for an effective and responsible national 
security policy for the past three-quarters of a century.
  Last year, the Reserve Officers Association celebrated their 75th 
birthday and one of its past National Presidents, Major General Donald 
S. Dawson (USAF Retired), who served as the Chairman of the Chairman of 
the Anniversary Committee, made an address that I ask unanimous consent 
to have printed in the Record. General Dawson personifies the type of 
individual who chooses to serve our Nation through the military and I 
think my colleagues would find his remarks of interest and inspiring.
  There being no objection, the remarks were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Address of Donald S. Dawson, Major General USAF (Retired), Chairman of 
  the 75th Anniversary Committee, Reserve Officers Association at the 
 Unveiling of the Historical Plaque Commemorating Its Founding at the 
                     Willard Hotel, October 2, 1997

       My fellow Americans, welcome! We are here today because the 
     Congress of the USA, in its wisdom, passed the Reserve Act in 
     1920, establishing a two million Reserve Force, led by a 
     200,000 officer Reserve Corps, based on the experience of 
     World War I and the centuries of experience before that gave 
     us a trained, equipped, and experienced hard core military 
     force, ready to respond and serve at a moment's notice when 
     the need arises.
       George Washington, a century and a quarter before, 
     proclaimed, ``To be prepared for war is the surest way to 
     insure the peace,'' and, accompanying that policy, he said, 
     ``Every citizen of a free government owes his services, and a 
     proportion of his property to defense of it.''
       Just 75 years ago today, General of the Armies, John J. 
     Pershing hosted a luncheon for 140 Reserve officers of World 
     War I in this very historic and beautiful Willard Hotel--at 
     which he proposed the formation of an association of Reserve 
     Officers that would give our country an equipped, organized, 
     trained military force ready to insure our country's 
     security.
       General Pershing said at that meeting, ``I consider this 
     gathering one of the most important, from a military point of 
     view, that has assembled in Washington or anywhere else 
     within my time.''
       General Pershing further realized that, while he had 
     Congressional legislation, implementation would be the key to 
     success and he knew that the only way this civilian force 
     could be recruited was with broad-based citizen support--
     since it depended entirely upon patriotism and the voluntary 
     will of the people to participate.
       Let us look at his foresight.
       In December 1940, one year before our entry in World War 
     II, General George C. Marshall commented about this Reserve 
     Force, ``In contrast with the hectic days of 1917, when the 
     War Department, with no adequate reservoir of officers to 
     draw upon, had hurried to select and train the great number 
     of officers required for the vast expansion of the Army, we 
     now have available in the Officers Reserve Corps, a great 
     pool of trained men available for instant service.''
       ``Today, almost 60 percent of the officers on duty with 
     regular Army units in the field are from the Reserve Corps, 
     and almost 90 percent of the Lieutenants are Reserve 
     Officers.''
       ROA had done its job and has continued to glorify that 
     record in every emergency since.
       Yes, we have kept our contract with America, And honored 
     it.
       Just this year our Commander in Chief, President Clinton, 
     congratulated ROA for its

[[Page S1055]]

     steadfast adherence to supporting national security and 
     maintaining an adequate National defense since its foundation 
     in 1922.
       179,000 Reservists met the call in Korea. They were there 
     in Viet Nam. 166,000 in the Persian Gulf and today 5,000 are 
     on duty in Bosnia.
       Let us hereby resolve that the torch of freedom that was 
     lit 75 years ago on this spot shall burn ever more brightly 
     in our hands for all the years to come in defense of liberty 
     and justice for all.

                          ____________________