[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 3, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRATULATING DANIEL DIRN- BERGER OF ORAN, MO: SECOND PLACE NATIONAL 
           WINNER IN THE VFW 1999 VOICE OF DEMOCRACY PROGRAM

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                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 3, 1999

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, February 28, 1999, the Veterans 
of Foreign Wars announced that Daniel Dirnberger, a senior at Oran High 
School in Scott County, Missouri, was the second place National winner 
of the ``1999 Voice of Democracy Program.'' Daniel was sponsored by 
Morley VFW Post 5368 and its Ladies Auxiliary. He is the son of Mr. and 
Mrs. Leonard Dirnberger, and he plans on attending Southeast Missouri 
University next school year.
  Daniel's essay, entitled ``My Service to America,'' captures the very 
essence of what it means to be an American. In a self-governing nation 
such as ours, each and everyone of us serves our country when we 
``simply be the best we can be, fight the good fight, and be someone 
who is strong and proud to call themselves an American. We do that and 
everything that our elders bled, fought, and died for will be truly 
honored.'' I have enclosed a copy of Daniel's essay for the record. I 
hope that my colleagues will take a few minutes to read his words, and 
to share his essay with young people in their districts. Daniel 
exemplifies the energy, the optimism, and the dedication to country 
that compelled our Founding Fathers in their drive to create one 
nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

                         My Service to America

                         (By Daniel Dirnberger)

       As I stood in the darkness of the theater watching the end 
     of the war movie ``Saving Private Ryan'' my eyes welled up 
     with tears as the older Private Ryan stood at the grave of 
     his friend. This scene made me think about how much these 
     brave men and women have had to suffer and sacrifice so that 
     our freedom may endure to this day. From where I stood I 
     could see many of the reactions of the people in the 
     audience. Some wept, others held their heads low, and still 
     others seem so shocked that emotional reaction was impossible 
     for them to express. What attracted my attention, however, 
     was the reaction of the war veterans who had come to see the 
     movie that day.
       The veterans sat in a group on the top row. None of them 
     had shown any emotion during the movie until Private Ryan 
     saluted the grave of his friend. At that moment the entire 
     group of veterans stood up silently. Each one took off his 
     hat, and all bowed their heads. This simple, quiet act 
     touched me deeply and almost drove me to tears. It filled me 
     with a deep sense of pride and admiration for these men and 
     women who had endured so much for our country.
       As I walked out of the theater I felt ashamed. These people 
     have given so much and I have given so little. Then I began 
     to think about my service to America, what was I doing to try 
     and make this country a better place? I could not think of 
     any major task that I had accomplished to make me worthy of 
     the freedom that was given to me. Then I thought of a very 
     different service that I had been performing since I was 
     young. I have always tried to do well in school, be an 
     upright citizen, and obey the laws but these things were so 
     minor, so insignificant that they could not possibly matter 
     in this big country of ours.
       I know now that I was wrong about these small services to 
     America. These services are not insignificant: they are the 
     most important services that we as Americans today can do for 
     our country. Just think what would happen if everyone tried 
     just a little harder to do better, work together, and be the 
     best they can be. Our country would be just a little bit 
     better place to live and work. There are the pessimists who 
     say that this view is nothing but a utopian philosophy that 
     can never come true but these people have miscalculated their 
     predictions of the future. They have forgotten about the 
     power of the human spirit. This power can overcome any 
     obstacle or challenge that is presented to it. All the spirit 
     needs is a catalyst to push it on.
       Too many Americans have lost their faith in the human 
     spirit. The media's negative news and the magazines 
     slanderous articles break down the structure of society. 
     These things lead our entire society to believe that the 
     world is a horrible place filled with the monsters that used 
     to haunt us as children. I believe that the human spirit can 
     be reborn. If we all do our part or if even just a few of us 
     do a little, the human spirit will shine through the 
     negativity that surrounds us and we can defeat the monsters 
     that the media has led us to believe exist in our society.
       Your service to America can be large or small, depending on 
     the type of person you are. It does not take much to help 
     your country or another person. Voting, volunteering, or 
     simply picking up a piece of trash on the ground can help all 
     of us. Don't say you don't have enough time to do something 
     good and helpful. You have exactly the same number of hours 
     per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, 
     Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas 
     Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.) 
     Remember, if you don't do it, you'll never know what would 
     have happened if you had done it.
       My service to America and my suggestions may seem small but 
     in reality they are larger then you can imagine. By doing 
     these little things we are contributing to a larger body of 
     people who, like me, believe that the human spirit is the 
     most powerful thing of all once it is driven on. The war 
     today my friends is not on the battlefield of a foreign 
     country but on the very land or our own country. My service, 
     indeed all our services, to America is simply to be the best 
     we can be, to fight the good fight, and be someone who is 
     strong and proud to call themselves an American. We do that 
     and everything that our elders bled, fought, and died for 
     will truly be honored. We will be one nation, under God, 
     indivisible, with liberty and justice for all!

     

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