[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5464-S5465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MEMORIAL DAY 1998

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today to say thanks to 
those who have gone before us. Monday marks the 130th year of our 
country's official observance of Memorial Day. It is a day America 
dedicates to remember all those who fell in defense of this country. On 
Monday, many across the land will bow their heads in silence for a few 
moments and remember the patriots of our past.
  There is no way to measure the impact on the lives of those who have 
lost someone to war. Certainly on this Memorial Day, many will mourn 
the youth and joy of loved ones lost. This is a day for the heroes, 
known and unknown, who died on the field of battle so we might be free. 
Mr. President, I salute every soldier, airman, marine, coast guardsman, 
merchantman and sailor who put themselves in harms way and who 
forfeited their lives so that members of future generations would have 
the opportunity to stand in this chamber, on a day like today, and 
speak without fear.
  I have never, nor do I ever wish to know, the fear and suffering that 
many of these brave men and women surely experienced. It has been said 
and I would agree, that it is best we leave the understanding of their 
sacrifice in God's hands--only He can truly know the full measure of 
what was lost and what was gained. Our responsibility is to acknowledge 
their sacrifice--to remember that it was made and the reasons for which 
it was made. Monday, Memorial Day, is the day that our country should 
unite in one spirit to remember those who purchased the freedom we and 
our loved ones enjoy.
  Former President James A. Garfield, at the first national Memorial 
Day observance, said ``we do not know one promise these men made, one 
pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up 
and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and 
citizens. For love of country, they accepted death, and thus resolved 
all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.''
  We should all pause with great gratitude on Monday and look to the 
future with the greatest of expectations for what the 21st Century 
holds for us, our children, and our children's children. Our fallen 
patriots gave everything they had to extend freedom beyond the reach of 
most of our lifetimes. Mr. President, Memorial Day is not only about 
remembering the men and women who made the Supreme sacrifice while 
defending the American way. It is about acknowledging and protecting 
the ideals they died for, so that their sacrifice shall not have been 
made in vain.
  Brave Alabamians have been among those who have fought so valiantly 
and are among the hundreds of thousands who died in World War I, World 
War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Panama, Grenada, and the Persian Gulf. 
They deserve our deepest respect and honor.

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God bless these fallen heroes. And may God continue to bless the United 
States of America.

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